Tomb Raiding: My Family's Last Clan Chief is Little Brother

Chapter 118 Changbai Snow Mountain
Zhang Wuxun transferred in Shenyang and arrived in Erdaobaihe. Then he shared a car with a young couple who were traveling to Changbai Mountain. The young couple got out of the car halfway to take pictures at a scenic spot.

The driver was a little curious and asked Zhang Wuxun, but Zhang only said he was a tourist and wouldn't say anything else. After chatting for a few minutes, the driver got bored and stopped talking.

We arrived at Yingshan Village in Changbai Mountain an hour and a half later.

After Zhang Wuxun got out of the car and paid the fare, the driver didn't delay at all, closed the car door and drove away. Zhang Wuxun, who was standing to the side and behind, was almost covered in snow, but luckily he dodged quickly.

Watching the car drive away, Zhang Wuxun gritted his teeth and gave the departing car the middle finger.

Because Zhang Wuxun set off ahead of time, the journey was smooth and he did not encounter any plainclothes police officers or other public officials.

Zhang Wuxun straightened his clothes, walked into the village, and knocked on the door of the village committee.

A few seconds later, a hoarse voice with a strong local accent came from inside, asking, "Who is it?"

The door opened immediately, and the village secretary, wrapped in a thick black cotton-padded coat, looked Zhang Wuxun up and down. "Young man, who are you looking for? Come in and warm up, it's freezing outside."

Zhang Wuxun smiled and handed over a box of Yuxi cigarettes, saying, "I won't go in. I heard that there are veterans in your village who can take people up the snow mountain. I'm here for tourism, so I'd like to find someone to take me up the mountain for a look around."

The village secretary grinned, took the cigarette and put it in his pocket, turned around and closed the door, then led the way. "You're a straightforward young man, haha. I'll find you someone. That young man is really capable. He just led a group of people back from the snow-capped mountains a couple of days ago, and he's been resting in his room these past few days."

Zhang Wuxun followed the village secretary to the door of a house. The village secretary knocked on the door and shouted twice, "Shunzi! Get up quickly, we have work to do."

No one answered from inside.

The village secretary knocked again, shaking off some of the snow on the door frame, before voices could be heard coming from inside.

With a bang, the door was pulled open from the inside, and a spiky, hairy head poked out from the crack, looking sleepy. "What?"

"Hey you brat, what are you sleeping for in the middle of the day?" the village secretary cursed, pulling Zhang Wuxun over and saying, "This young man asked you to take him into the mountains, and you've been idle for days. Your butt must be calloused by now."

Shunzi squinted at Zhang Wuxun, then opened the door a crack. "Come in."

Zhang Wuxun thanked the village secretary, stuffed two whole bills into his hand, and watched him walk away before following Shunzi into the house.

Upon entering, a warm current mixed with a strange, inexplicable smell hit him, almost making Zhang Wuxun gasp for breath. The room was pitch black, with only a table lamp on the table providing illumination.

Zhang Wuxun turned his head and saw the switch on the wall, then slammed it down.

The light flickered briefly when it came on before settling down.

He took a step forward and kicked something. Looking down, he saw it was an ashtray made from half a glass beer bottle, which Zhang Wuxun had knocked over. The cigarette liquid and ash inside spilled out, and a few drops even splashed onto Zhang Wuxun's military boots.

"Ugh~" Zhang Wuxun frowned in disgust. To be honest, if this guy wasn't a key character in the original plot, he would have left long ago.

Looking up again, I realized that I, the guest, was still standing, while the host had already crawled into bed and was fast asleep, practically snoring away.

Just as I was thinking that, a loud, rumbling sound like a train starting up started from over there.

Zhang Wuxun pursed his lips speechlessly, wiped himself down on the only chair in the room, took out a wad of cash from his wallet, and swung it around with one hand, making a "whoosh" sound. The snoring immediately stopped.

Zhang Wuxun crossed his legs again, counting the bills one by one. The crisp rubbing sound made Shunzi, who was curled up in the quilt, extremely itchy.

Finally unable to resist, he peeked out and saw the bulging wallet on the coffee table. He jumped off the bed, threw off the covers, rubbed his hands together, and chuckled, "What's your surname, sir? When are you planning to go up the mountain?"

Zhang Wuxun didn't say anything, but just shook the money in his hand, waved it in front of Shunzi, and then put it back in his wallet.

Shunzi's hand froze in mid-air, half-reaching out, and she gave an awkward smile. Then, realizing something, she turned and picked up a white porcelain cup from the coffee table, poured a cup of hot water, and respectfully pushed it in front of Zhang Wuxun. "It's freezing cold outside, please have some hot water to warm yourself up."

Zhang Wuxun's sharp eyes caught sight of the light brown tea stains at the bottom of the cup that hadn't been cleaned properly. His lips twitched, and for a moment he didn't even want to say a word.

Shunzi also pulled out a bag of peanuts from a cardboard box under the coffee table, which also contained red dates and melon seeds.

Zhang Wuxun estimated that this was the best thing he could offer to entertain his guests. He took one out, peeled it, rubbed off the skin, and popped it into his mouth as a token gesture. Without beating around the bush, he went straight to the point, "I want you to take me up the mountain tomorrow. You should know how to walk the route from Agai West Lake to the border post, right?"

Shunzi was clearly taken aback and asked, "What are you going to the outpost for?"

Zhang Wuxun didn't answer his question. He took out all the cash in his wallet, without even counting it, but it should be over ten thousand. He placed it squarely in front of Shunzi and said, "This is the deposit. The balance will be paid later."

He then held up his hand and gestured a number.

"So? Are you in or not?" Zhang Wuxun looked at him with a faint smile.

Shunzi grabbed the money and counted it quickly, his face beaming with a wide smile. After finally managing to suppress it, he looked at Zhang Wuxun seriously and said, "Damn it, boss, just tell me what you want."

"readily."

Zhang Wuxun curled the corners of his lips, stood up and walked out. "Find me a place to stay first." He didn't want to stay in this doghouse for even half a minute longer.

Shunzi put on his coat, went out and first informed the village secretary, then found a family in the village with red-tiled brick houses for Zhang Wuxun, paid them money and let Zhang Wuxun settle down temporarily.

No one knows what Shunzi said to that family, but the family treated Zhang Wuxun to a very lavish meal that evening, and they looked at Zhang Wuxun with great enthusiasm.

Zhang Wuxun attributed this to the fact that the people here are generally simple, honest, warm, and hospitable.

After resting for a night, Zhang Wuxun bought a horse after breakfast the next day, and he and Shunzi set off towards the snow-capped mountains with their gear on their backs, plunging headlong into the vast white expanse.

Looking around, the white expanse quickly swallowed up the two figures.

The scenery of Changbai Mountain is beautiful. Even though Zhang Wuxun had no intention of appreciating it, he was still awestruck by the distant sky and majestic peaks along the way, and a kind of indescribable surge of emotion welled up in his heart.

Standing atop the mountain peak, Zhang Wuxun, sitting on horseback, suddenly experienced the meaning of the saying "the higher you climb, the colder it gets" from poetry.

Suddenly, a unique sense of chivalry arose within me—the lone hero of the martial world, riding alone with a sword, roaming the world. My slender figure blended into the vast天地 (heaven and earth), like a grain of sand, even as insignificant as dust, yet possessing the power to create the world.

Following the forest uphill, the road was not difficult to walk, and the two arrived at Lake Agaisi in less than four hours.

Zhang Wuxun had experience exploring snow-capped mountains before, so he was basically traveling light this time and didn't find it strenuous.

The two replenished their energy by the lake and rested for a while before continuing their journey.

Before leaving, Zhang Wuxun couldn't resist taking out his camera and snapping a picture of the beautiful "Agaixi" Lake. The entire Changbai Mountain was reflected in the calm lake water, and Zhang Wuxun captured it in his small camera.

Very, um, amazing.

Shunzi even asked him if he wanted to take a picture with the lake, but Zhang Wuxun smiled and shook his head.

﹉﹉﹉

Along the way, Zhang Wuxun carried the map he had found from Shunzi and marked some key places in detail so that he could come back next time.

After passing a treacherous sloping hill, Shunzi looked at the mountain ahead, laughed, and said loudly, "There's a deserted village not far ahead; the outpost the boss is looking for is there."

Zhang Wuxun also looked around. To be honest, all he could see was snow. He didn't know how Shunzi recognized it.

He didn't say much, but simply marked the route on the map according to the speed and distance traveled.

Continuing upwards, as far as the eye can see, some dilapidated wooden houses suddenly appear amidst the white snow. On the rusty, blackened iron gates, painted in white, are ten large red characters that read "The sacred territory of the motherland is inviolable."

Seeing that Zhang Wuxun's gaze was fixed on those words, Shunzi explained, "This is the former supply station of the snow mountain. Later, several outposts were moved to different locations, and this place was abandoned. Several outposts on the snow line are now empty. If you want to go, I'll take you to see it tomorrow."

Zhang Wuxun nodded.

The night sky above the snow-capped mountains also appears a hazy blue.

Shunzi said he would make do at this outpost for the night and go down the mountain at dawn tomorrow.

Zhang Wuxun had no objection.

The iron lock on the door had long been smashed. The two went inside, shook off the snow, and laid out their sleeping bags.

Shunzi found some dry firewood in some corner and made a fire. Then he took out some compressed biscuits, toasted them slightly, and was about to start eating them.

Out of consideration for Shunzi's comfort in the cold, Zhang Wuxun took out two large boxes of self-heating hot pot and two round cans of food from his backpack and tossed one to Shunzi.

Then, to Shunzi's astonishment, she magically produced an iron rack and a small iron basin from her backpack, boiled water, poured the canned food and vegetables from the self-heating hot pot into the small iron basin, added hot pot ingredients, and in no time, a simple bowl of spicy hot pot was born.

The fragrance filled the entire room, and just smelling it made me feel warm all over.

Shunzi swallowed hard, and the biscuits in her hand suddenly lost their appeal.

"Boss... can I borrow your basin for a moment?" Shunzi asked, his face flushed red.

"sure."

Zhang Wuxun poured the spicy hot pot into the empty self-heating hot pot container and generously lent the empty small iron basin to Shunzi.

Shunzi took it, thanked him, and followed Zhang Wuxun's example to finish it. He then rubbed his hands together expectantly and stood guard by the fire.

I'm so hungry!
Thank you so much, Master Nie Mowangqing, for the 3000 Qidian Coins! I'm so grateful!

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(End of this chapter)