Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The night is deep, and the sound of water can be heard.

Zhang Qiling sat on a rock, his eyes fixed on the upstream direction of the dark river. The river was noisy, but he could also faintly hear other sounds. It was a scream, coming from afar, carried on the wind, intermittent and fading away.

Zhang Qiling heard it too. He stood up, looked in that direction for a few seconds, and then sat down again.

"The official team," he said.

"Mm," Zhang Qiling replied.

Neither of them moved, remaining seated. The screams continued for a while, then gradually subsided. Then came sporadic, rapid gunfire, which also quickly ceased.

Back at the camp, Wu Xie woke up, sat up, and looked over. Hei Xiazi also crawled out of the tent, still wearing his sunglasses, and walked over to Zhang Qiling's side.

"Did you hear that?" Black Bear asked.

Zhang Qiling nodded.

"Something happened?"

"possible."

"Would you like to see it?"

Zhang Qiling was silent for two seconds, then shook his head.

Zhang Qiling also shook his head.

Hei Xiazi understood: they didn't care about the official troubles.

The group quieted down again. But not long after, hurried footsteps and shouts came from the distant woods. This time they were very close, heading towards the river.

Zhang Qiling stood up, and "Zhang Qiling" also stood up. Both of them placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.

Several people rushed out of the woods; they were from the official team. Leading the pack was Kun, his face deathly pale and his clothes torn. Behind him followed Chen Man and Wang Yihan, supporting each other, both covered in blood. Further back was Jiang Xun Gu, carrying someone on his back—Xiao Shou Zhou, whose glasses were broken and blood was flowing from his forehead. Lin Guo Ce and Professor Zhou Xu'an ran behind; the professor tripped and fell, but Lin Guo Ce pulled him up.

"Help! Help!" Kun shouted hoarsely when he saw them.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud hissing sound, like the exhaust of a train, came from the woods. Then, the bushes were smashed open, and two huge black shadows rushed out.

It's a snake.

But these were no ordinary snakes. Each one was over twenty meters long, its body thicker than a bucket, covered in palm-sized black scales that gleamed with a metallic sheen in the moonlight. Its head was flat, like a shovel, its eyes blood-red, and its mouth filled with densely packed, hooked fangs dripping with mucus. Two curved bony spurs, like horns, protruded from the top of its head.

The two snakes moved at great speed, one after the other, breaking trees and carving deep furrows in their path.

"A black-armored python with iron wire!" Jiang Shouyi shouted from behind, his voice trembling. "How could there be one here!"

The two snakes had already reached the riverbank. The last few soldiers turned and fired, bullets striking their scales and sparking, leaving only faint white marks. One snake's tail swept across, striking two soldiers in the waist, sending them flying and crashing into trees, motionless. The other snake lowered its head and bit a soldier in the waist, tossing his body into the river.

"Go into the cave!" Lin Guoce roared.

The group ran towards the cave entrance. Two snakes gave chase. Another soldier was bitten, and his screams abruptly ceased.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" stood still. Wu Xie and the others retreated to the cave entrance and watched. Fatty counted: "One, two, three... five are dead."

"Brother, aren't you going to make a move?" Wu Xie asked.

Zhang Qiling didn't answer. He looked at the two snakes, then at the fleeing government troops. Wen Jingshan also ran out, followed by several soldiers. A Ning was at the back, turning back to shoot an arrow as she ran; the arrow hit a snake and bounced off.

"Six, seven, eight..." the fat man continued counting.

Two more soldiers were struck by the snake's tail, and the sound of bones breaking could be clearly heard.

"Nine, ten," the fat man counted.

The tenth soldier was bitten on the shoulder by a snake and dragged into the woods; his screams soon faded away.

"That's enough," Zhang Qiling said.

Zhang Qiling nodded.

The two moved at the same time.

Zhang Qiling charged towards the snake on the left. The snake was lowering its head to bite Wen Jingshan when Zhang Qiling was already beside it, his black-gold ancient sword drawn, a flash of light as he slashed at the seam of the snake's neck scales. The strike was incredibly powerful; the scales shattered, and black blood spurted out. The snake, in pain, turned and hissed, a foul stench filling the air. Zhang Qiling didn't retreat; instead, he leaped into the air to meet the snake's head, his sword slashing upwards from below, piercing the snake's jaw and then thrusting upwards with a powerful upward thrust.

The blade pierced through the scales and cut into the flesh. The snake thrashed its head wildly, trying to throw him off. Zhang Qiling grabbed the bone spur on the snake's head with his left hand, used the momentum to flip himself onto the snake's back, and thrust the knife downwards with his right hand, plunging it into the spine and all the way down to the hilt.

The snake writhed violently, snapping several small trees in its wake. Zhang Qiling remained as steady as a rock on its back, twisting his wrist to grip the knife, causing the blade to churn within the snake's body. The snake let out a mournful hiss, struggled a few times, then collapsed to the ground with a thud, convulsing and motionless.

On the other side, Zhang Qiling was dealing with another snake. He charged directly at the snake's head, and just as it opened its mouth to bite, he slid to the side, passing under the snake's mouth. At the same time, a flash of light appeared as his blade struck the snake's forked tongue. Half of the forked tongue flew off, and black blood gushed out. The snake reared up in pain, and Zhang Qiling had already circled to its side, gripping his blade with both hands. He plunged the blade into the snake's ribs, pulling it horizontally to create a nearly two-meter-long gash, from which internal organs mixed with black blood gushed out.

The snake turned, its tail lashing out like a steel whip. Zhang Qiling didn't dodge, but charged at the tail, leaping up in front of it and touching the lashing tail with his toes, using the momentum to rise again and land on the snake's head. He clamped his legs around the snake's neck, and with his left fist, he slammed his fist into the base of the snake's skull.

A cracking sound of bone breaking. The bone spur snapped. The snake's head jerked violently, and Zhang Qiling dropped to the ground. In the instant the snake lowered its head to bite, the knife pierced through the snake's lower jaw from bottom to top, penetrating the upper jaw, with the tip protruding from the top of its head.

The snake froze and slowly fell to the ground.

The battle lasted less than two minutes from start to finish.

Two enormous snake carcasses lay across the riverbank, their black blood staining the water crimson. A strong, pungent stench filled the air.

A few seconds of silence followed. Then came the sound of vomiting; it was Chen Man, kneeling on the ground, dry heaving. Wang Yihan supported her, her face deathly pale. Kun Ge slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.

Lin Guoce looked at the snake corpse, then at Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" standing beside the pile of corpses. He moved his throat but didn't say anything.

Wen Jingshan walked over, his face ashen. Behind him followed the remaining soldiers, Jiang Xungu, Xiao Shouzhuo, Chen Wangshan, Meng Qinghe, and A Ning. Meng Qinghe's phone was still recording, but his hand was trembling. A Ning slung her bow back over her shoulder, looking at Zhang Qiling with a complex expression.

"You..." Wen Jingshan began, his voice trembling with suppressed anger, "Why did you only act now? If you had acted sooner, those people wouldn't have died!"

Zhang Qiling glanced at him but didn't say anything. He shook the blood off his sword and sheathed it.

Zhang Qiling also flicked his sword, sheathed it, and uttered two words: "Too late."

"Late?" Wen Jingshan raised his voice. "You could have been earlier..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Qiling sprang into action. He took a step forward, stood in front of Wen Jingshan, and kicked him in the chest.

The movement wasn't fast, but Wen Jingshan had no time to react. He was sent flying backward, crashing into a tree trunk five meters away, sliding to the ground, clutching his chest, and coughing up blood.

Several soldiers pointed their guns at Zhang Qiling. Zhang Qiling didn't even look at them, turned around and walked towards the cave entrance. "Zhang Qiling" followed.

"Put down your gun!" Lin Guoce shouted sternly.

The soldiers lowered their guns, but their hands were still on the triggers.

Wen Jingshan was helped up, his face ashen, staring intently at Zhang Qiling's retreating figure, but he didn't say anything more.

Jiang Xun Gu walked over and clasped his hands in thanks to Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling": "Thank you. If it weren't for you, we would all be dead here."

Zhang Qiling didn't turn around. Neither did "Zhang Qiling" turn around.

A Ning walked over to Wu Xie and asked in a low voice, "Are you guys alright?"

"I'm fine," Wu Xie said. "And you?"

"Abrasions." Ah Ning looked at her arm; the sleeve was torn and there were bloodstains.

Xie Yuchen walked over and handed her a small bottle of medicine: "It's for stopping bleeding."

"Thanks." Ah Ning accepted it.

Huo Xiuxiu was checking Xiao Shouzhou's injuries; his forehead was cut, but it wasn't serious. Chen Wangshan watched the snake corpse from a distance, his eyes flickering, lost in thought. Meng Qinghe turned off her phone, squatted on the ground, still trembling.

The levitating live-streaming sphere flew out of the forest; it had been hiding in a tree. The camera panned across the scene: two enormous snake carcasses, bloodstains on the ground, a disheveled crowd, and two dark figures walking towards the cave entrance.

The comments scrolled by:

Prophet: I knew those mute Zhangs would make their move!

A solution to the experts' dissent: Ten soldiers died, and the authorities suffered a huge loss this time.

The fan club for the young man: Our husbands are so handsome! Let's kick that guy surnamed Wen away!

"Clean things up," Lin Guoce said in a deep voice. "Treat the wounded and count the number of people."

The headcount revealed ten dead soldiers and seven wounded, including Xiao Shouzhou. The others sustained minor abrasions. A significant amount of supplies were lost, but fortunately, the main equipment remained intact.

"Let's camp here tonight," Professor Zhou Xu'an said, his voice trembling. "I'm too scared to go into the cave."

"We must go into the cave," Zhang Qiling said, stopping at the cave entrance and turning back.

"Why?" Jiang Shouyi asked.

"It's not safe outside," Zhang Qiling said.

"The snake is dead!" Wen Jingshan struggled to his feet.

"There are more than two," Zhang Qiling said.

Everyone's expression changed.

"How did you know?" Chen Wangshan asked.

Zhang Qiling didn't answer. He looked at the blood on the snake carcass on the ground, the blood seeping into the soil, but the surrounding grass was swaying slightly, as if something was moving underneath.

"There's something underground," said Zhang Qiling.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the ground next to the nearest snake carcass suddenly split open, and several dark shadows, each as thick as a bowl, emerged. They were smaller snakes, but equally ferocious. They pounced on the snake carcass and began to tear and devour it.

"It's a baby snake!" Jiang Shouyi exclaimed. "It's a young iron-wire black armored python! It grows by eating its parents' corpses! Get out of here quickly!"

No one hesitated. Everyone grabbed whatever they could and rushed towards the cave entrance. Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" went in first, their flashlights illuminating the way. The cave was dark, but there was a breeze, indicating it was open.

The official team rushed in. The last few soldiers retreated while firing outside, killing several of the pursuing snakes. The entrance to the cave wasn't large, so the snakes couldn't get in for the time being, but they hissed outside, a chilling sound.

The cave was temporarily safe. People slumped to the ground, panting heavily, their flashlight beams flailing wildly.

"Count the number of people and check the wounds," Lin Guoce ordered.

Another flurry of activity ensued. This time, no one spoke; only suppressed breathing and occasional groans could be heard.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" stood in the inner part, looking towards the cave entrance. The sounds of the snakes outside gradually subsided, perhaps they had eaten their fill, or perhaps they had dispersed.

"Let's rest for two hours," Zhang Qiling said.

"We'll head deeper into the cave at daybreak," said Zhang Qiling.

Nobody objected.

Wu Xie sat down against the cave wall and looked at Zhang Qiling. Zhang Qiling was also looking at him, and when their eyes met, Zhang Qiling nodded slightly.

The meaning is clear: It's okay, I'm here.

Wu Xie felt relieved and closed his eyes.

In the distance, Wen Jingshan was bandaging his wounds, his eyes coldly fixed on Zhang Qiling's direction, but he remained silent. Jiang Xun Gu was tending to Xiao Shou Zhou, while A Ning was checking her equipment. Chen Wangshan squatted to one side, drawing something on the ground with his finger. Meng Qinghe hugged her knees, curled up into a ball.

The night is still long, but the most dangerous part is temporarily over.