Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

Zhang Qiling lay on a tree branch.

Left hand behind head, right hand on abdomen. Right leg straight, left leg bent. The black gold ancient sword leans against a branch fork to the side, its scabbard jet black, hilt facing upwards, resting steadily.

This pose is very relaxed. At least it looks like it.

He lay there, his eyes fixed upwards. Through the layers of leaves, small patches of sky peeked out. The sky gradually shifted from a bright afternoon blue to a soft orange-yellow at dusk. The clouds were few and drifted slowly.

A gust of wind blew by, making the leaves sway and dappled sunlight dance on his face and body.

He didn't move.

I don't know where to go.

After the ancient tombs of Qinling, comes the tomb of Huo Yun. And after Huo Yun's tomb?

There were no clues, no destination, and no place we had to go.

Those names resurfaced in my mind.

Wu Xie. Fatty Wang. Hei Xiazi.

And... Xie Yuchen. Huo Xiuxiu. A Ning. Pan Zi.

I remember the name, but the face is blurry. It's like looking at a figure through frosted glass—the outline is there, but the details are gone. Xie Yuchen seemed to like wearing pink, and he sang well. Huo Xiuxiu…quite a clever girl. A Ning…quite agile, what happened to her later? Pan Zi…that last song…

He frowned.

Memory is like a water bag with a hole in it; the water leaks out little by little, and you can't hold onto it.

I am Zhang Qiling.

Gatekeeper.

We must guard the bronze gate.

Where is the door?

Can not remember.

He closed his eyes.

The mountain breeze whispers in my ears, carrying sounds from afar. Birdsong, insect chirps, leaves rustling. It's very quiet.

But this quietness made a certain place in my heart feel empty.

He lay there, motionless.

Like a stone statue forgotten atop a tree.

Down the mountain, at the temporary base.

The helicopter rotors spun, whipping up a gust of wind. Several transport helicopters landed one after another, raising clouds of dust.

Kun was the first to jump off the plane. He let out a long sigh of relief as his feet touched solid ground.

"They're back! They're finally back!"

He turned around and reached out to help Chen Man and Wang Yihan down from behind. The two girls were still a little pale, but they relaxed a bit as they breathed in the air outside, which was free of the cold, musty smell of the tomb.

Jiang Shouyi helped Professor Zhou Xu'an down. The professor was old and his legs were weak from the journey, but his eyes were still bright as he tightly hugged the waterproof backpack containing the bamboo slips.

Lin Guoce and the remaining special forces soldiers were the last to disembark, carrying the two bodies covered with white sheets. The atmosphere was somber.

Sun Shuanzhu climbed off the plane by himself, almost twisting his ankle when he landed. After regaining his balance, he immediately straightened his wrinkled suit jacket and cleared his throat.

Staff and media were already waiting at the base. The live broadcast sphere also turned on automatically and hovered above everyone's heads—of the twenty-three spheres they brought with them when they went down into the tomb, a few were lost, but the rest came out with them.

The barrage of comments exploded instantly:

[The ID has been revealed!]

[I saw Kun Ge in the ID!]

[Is Miss Chen Man alright? Her eyes are still red.]

[Professor ID is holding a bag! Bamboo slips are inside!]

[Team Leader Lin's face looked very grave]

[Those two white sheets in the ID... the soldiers who sacrificed their lives.]

[ID expert Sun is tidying up his clothes again, ugh.]

Where's the ID guy? Where is he?

Kun looked up and saw the floating live stream ball, paused for a moment, and then grinned.

He's still alive. He's out. The live stream is still on.

Popularity... He glanced at the backend data secretly, and his eyes widened instantly.

The number of online users is in the nine figures.

It's more than a hundred times more than his peak.

The comments section was full of people talking about the young man, the gatekeeper, immortality, and Huo Yun's tomb.

Kun's heart pounded, and a surge of heat rushed to his head. He couldn't help but jump up and down on the spot.

"Family!" He waved to the camera, his voice trembling with emotion, "We're back! We're all alive! Thank you for your concern! A special, special thank you—"

As he spoke, he suddenly turned around and bowed deeply to Chen Man, Wang Yihan, Jiang Shouyi, Professor Zhou Xu'an, Lin Guoce, and the soldiers.

"Thank you all! I couldn't have gotten through this without you!"

Then he straightened up, his eyes a little red, but a big smile on his face: "And the most, most, most important thing—Brother! Zhang Qiling! Even though he's not here, I know he's definitely alright! Brother's awesome!"

The live chat was flooded with comments like "Brother is awesome!", "Long live the gatekeeper!", and "Brother Kun is so thoughtful!"

Looking at the barrage of comments and the soaring popularity, Kun couldn't contain his excitement. His hands and feet were itching, and in a moment of impulsiveness, his body acted first.

He took two steps back and stood still.

Then, under everyone's gaze, in front of the camera, in the open space of the base—

He started performing his famous, mesmerizing dance routine that incorporated basketball dribbling moves.

He twisted his hips, turned around, pretended to dribble, and shot—a series of movements that flowed smoothly, accompanied by exaggerated and enthusiastic expressions.

After finishing the basketball dance, he didn't stop, and immediately followed up with his signature Iron Mountain Lean.

He slammed his shoulder to the left, his body spinning with the force of the impact, the movement powerful enough to create a whooshing sound.

"puff--"

Wang Yihan, who was drinking water nearby, spat out a mouthful of water and choked, coughing violently.

Chen Man was taken aback at first, then looked at Kun Ge's serious expression as he danced, and then thought about why he was dancing, and couldn't help but burst out laughing. She laughed louder and louder, then covered her stomach and bent over.

"Hahaha... Brother Kun, what... what are you doing... hahaha..."

Jiang Shouyi's lips twitched. He tried to hold back, but couldn't. He turned his face away, his shoulders shaking.

Professor Zhou Xu'an pushed up his glasses, looked at Brother Kun, and shook his head with a smile.

Lin Guoce and the soldiers looked speechless, but there was a hint of a smile in their eyes.

The comments section was filled with laughter:

[ID: Hahahaha Kun Ge is back again!]

[ID Classic Reimagined!]

[ID: Iron Mountain Lean! It's Iron Mountain Lean!]

[ID: Help! My stomach hurts so much!]

[You're so cool, you just crawled out of your grave and you're already dancing!]

[ID Chen Man laughed until she cried, hahaha]

Sun Shuanzhu stood to the side, watching Kun Ge dance, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. He straightened his collar, stepped forward, cleared his throat, and struck a serious pose for the camera.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this archaeological expedition, while yielding significant discoveries, also came at a heavy price. Eight comrades sacrificed their lives—a tremendous loss. We must reflect on this, and we must strengthen the control over ancient tomb artifacts and the unknown, especially dangerous and uncertain factors like Zhang Qiling. These must be brought under national supervision. His abilities, the secrets of immortality he possesses—"

He didn't finish his sentence.

Kun Ge spun around with his Iron Mountain Lean, landing right in front of Sun Shuanzhu.

Kun Ge was so engrossed in dancing and excitement that he didn't even look where he was going, and his spinning shoulder slammed into Sun Shuanzhu's chest.

"Ouch!"

Caught off guard, Sun Shuanzhu staggered backward from the impact, tripped over a small stone, lost his balance, and fell to the ground with a thud, rolling half a circle backward. His suit was covered in dust, his glasses were askew, and he looked utterly disheveled.

Kun Ge then realized what was happening, stopped what he was doing, and looked at Sun Shuanzhu, who was sitting on the ground, dumbfounded.

The base fell silent instantly.

Everyone was watching them.

The live broadcast shows the ball aimed at this moment.

The comments paused for a second, then exploded:

[ID, holy crap! We've run into each other!]

[ID expert Sun was punished by Brother Kun's Iron Mountain Lean!]

[ID: Hahaha, karma is coming!]

[This ID is hilarious!]

[ID Kun Ge is awesome!]

Looking at Sun Shuanzhu's expression and recalling the nonsense he had just uttered, Kun Ge's anger flared up instantly.

He pointed at Sun Shuanzhu's nose and started cursing loudly.

"You're still talking nonsense!"

Sun Shuanzhu sat on the ground, adjusting his glasses, his face flushed with anger: "How dare you speak to me like that! Barbaric! Rude!"

"I'm rude?" Kun said, hands on his hips. "At least I repay kindness! That guy saved us all! All of us! Without him, you'd be dead in your grave, being gnawed to pieces by corpse beetles! And you're still here babbling about being monitored and controlled!"

"That was for the country! For all of humanity! His dangerous abilities—"

"Dangerous my ass!" Kun interrupted him, spitting almost onto Sun Shuanzhu's face. "So what if he's dangerous? Did he kill you? Did he kill any good people? That idiot Liu Changfu pushed Chen Man out to her death; he was the one who saved her! Liu Changfu brought this upon himself and got kicked into the swarm of corpse beetles—serves him right! And you? Besides spouting nonsense about protecting cultural relics and handing them over to the state, what have you done? You've only dragged us down! You've caused trouble! You're utterly useless!"

Sun Shuanzhu was trembling with rage: "You...you insulted the expert! I'm going to sue you!"

"An expert?" Kun scoffed, bending down to get closer to him, and said, enunciating each word clearly, "Someone like you, an expert? You're more like a 'brick expert'! Your brain is full of bricks! Hard and stupid!"

"Pfft—Hahaha!"

Chen Man, who was already squatting on the ground laughing, burst into laughter upon hearing this, rolling on the ground while clutching her stomach, tears streaming down her face.

"Hahaha, expert... brick as in 'brick'... Hahaha, Kun-ge, you're going to make me laugh to death..."

Wang Yihan laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight, and she leaned on Jiang Shouyi's shoulder.

Jiang Shouyi's face turned bright red as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Professor Zhou Xu'an lowered his head, his shoulders shrugging.

Lin Guoce coughed and turned his face away, but the corners of his mouth were clearly upturned.

The staff and reporters on site couldn't help but cover their mouths and chuckle.

The live stream chat went completely crazy:

[ID expert! Hahaha, what a fucking expert!]

[ID Kun Ge's criticism is well done!]

This idiot expert should have been criticized long ago!

[ID Chen Man is laughing so hard she's paralyzed with laughter, hahaha]

[ID: My stomach hurts so much I'm laughing so hard I'm cramping]

[ID's source of happiness today!]

Sun Shuanzhu sat on the ground, looking at the crowd around him trying not to laugh, looking at the camera, listening to Kun Ge's cursing and Chen Man's laughter. His face turned from red to purple, from purple to green, his lips trembled, and he couldn't say a word.

After venting his anger, Kun patted his hands, which were covered in imaginary dust, turned around, faced the camera, and smiled again.

"Family members, I got a little emotional just now. But there are some things I just have to say. Everyone who's been through this with this guy knows what he is. He owes no one anything; he saved us. As for certain 'experts'..."

He glanced back at Sun Shuanzhu, who was still sitting on the ground, and snorted.

"Whatever."

After he finished speaking, he walked over to Chen Man and Wang Yihan and helped Chen Man, who was laughing so hard she collapsed, to her feet.

"Let's go, let's go back, take a hot shower, have a good meal, and then get a good night's sleep!"

Chen Man laughed until she was exhausted, but she leaned against him and kept giggling.

Wang Yihan wiped away the tears of laughter and followed.

Jiang Shouyi helped Professor Zhou Xu'an up, while Lin Guoce directed people to clean up the scene. No one paid any more attention to Sun Shuanzhu, who was still sitting on the ground.

The live stream followed the team's movements, capturing footage of Kun Ge supporting Chen Man, with Wang Yihan laughing beside them, as the group walked towards the waiting car outside the base.

The comments section was still filled with "expert," "Kun Ge is awesome," and "Brother, we're waiting for you."

The setting sun cast long shadows on them.

Lively, vibrant, and full of people.

Separated from that lonely figure lying in the tree by a mountain, they are two different worlds.

On the tree.

Zhang Qiling opened his eyes.

The sky grew darker. A gray-blue hue seeped into the orange-yellow hue.

He heard laughter in the distance, faint and carried by the wind. It was indistinct, and he couldn't make out the content, but he could tell that many people were laughing together.

The excitement is theirs.

He lay there, motionless.

He raised his right hand and placed it on his forehead.

My palms are warm.

He recalled the last symbol of a qilin treading on fire on the bamboo scroll in Huo Yun's tomb.

The gatekeepers.

Zhang Qiling.

He lowered his hand and sat up.

The black gold ancient sword still stands quietly on the branch.

He picked up the knife and placed it across his lap.

My fingers traced the rough texture of the scabbard.

Then he lay back down.

The knife is beside me.

The person still doesn't know where they've gone.

Okay, let's leave it at that for now.

He closed his eyes.

The sound of the wind, the rustling of leaves, and distant, indistinct laughter.

It has nothing to do with him.