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

Chapter 172 The Deceased
Zhang Wuxun repeatedly assured that he would leave a message explaining where he would go next time, and Wu Xiaoxie, who had transformed into a mother hen, finally relented, saying, "This is the last time."

Huh? I think he said that before, but it was useless when it really mattered. Some people just kept acting recklessly.

The three sat by the fire, and the fat man cooked another packet of noodles for Zhang Wuxun.

"Where are Panzi and Aning?" Zhang Wu asked.

Wu Xiaoxie first asked Zhang Wu for a few sweet potatoes and threw them into the burnt ashes. He then used his dagger to bury them before saying, "My third uncle's fever had subsided, but somehow it came back overnight. Team doctor Aning has run out of medicine and can't treat him. Panzi was worried about my third uncle, so he went down the snow mountain with Aning's team. Fatty and I guessed that you should have gone to the treasure room, so we stayed here to wait for you."

The fat man chimed in, "If you don't come out soon, we're going to go in and look for you. By the way, did you run into those dead birds when you went in?"

Zhang Wuxun shook his head, "I waited until they went out to forage before climbing the bronze chains, so there was no direct confrontation."

"How are your injuries?" Wu Xiaoxie asked.

Zhang Wuxun chuckled and stretched his shoulders. "Almost done. Where are you and Fatty?"

"They're all superficial injuries, they don't affect your mobility." After Wu Xiaoxie finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Wuxun's right profile and hesitated for a moment, "Your tattoo... how are you feeling now? Did you feel like you were about to lose control again when you were near the bronze gate?"

Zhang Wuxun shook his head. "Don't worry. Although I'm not entirely sure what's going on, I can sense that as long as the bronze door doesn't open, the tattoos generally won't change."

Listening to their conversation, Fatty scooped noodles from the iron basin and said, "Muyu, don't think I'm being mean. Could it be some kind of hereditary blood disease, or maybe you're under a curse from an enemy? Like your and Little Brother's Old Mist Blood, it's good at expelling parasites, but it probably has side effects too."

Zhang Wuxun pondered for a moment. To be honest, although their family's Qilin blood was hereditary, its ultimate origin was probably only known to the previous Zhang family patriarch who had died long ago.

The other blood flowing in his body seems to have a similar meaning to the Qilin blood, and judging from the attitude of the Qinling system, it seems to have a very remarkable connection.

Seeing that Zhang Wuxun remained silent, the fat man placed the bowl and chopsticks beside him and said, "If all else fails, once we're out of the snow mountain, you and I will go back to a major hospital in Beijing for a thorough check-up. It's good to be on the safe side."

In fact, Zhang Wuxun felt that the most meticulous member of the Iron Triangle was Fatty. Although he seemed carefree, he was extremely thoughtful and knowledgeable. He could not be fooled by someone who could usually fool Wu Xiaogou.

Zhang Wuxun smiled and agreed, "Okay, I'll do as you say."

After resting overnight by the hot spring, the three of them took the only equipment they could carry the next day, leaving the guns and bullets to Zhang Wuxun. They climbed out of the crevice and slowly descended to the snow line. Near Agai West Lake, they encountered Pan Zi leading a snow mountain search and rescue team that had come up the mountain to find them.

The tattoos on his face gradually disappeared as he moved further away from the Heavenly Palace in the Clouds.

While Pan Zi was happy, he didn't forget to give the three of them meaningful glances, meaning they shouldn't reveal the secret.

After successfully descending the snow-capped mountain, Pan Zi paid off the search and rescue team and then rested and recuperated with Zhang Wuxun in Yingshan Village.

Wu Xiaoxie warmed his hands by holding a large porcelain jar filled with hot water, and asked Pan Zi, "How is my third uncle? Has he woken up yet?"

Pan Zi nodded, "Third Master is getting on in years. The doctor said that although his condition has basically stabilized, he still needs to stay in the hospital for a while."

"That's good." Wu Xiaoxie nodded and started talking to Pan Zi about the betting odds.

The fat man, unable to stay still, kept clamoring for some pickled cabbage made by a villager, and dragged Zhang Wuxun along for a stroll around the village. When they returned, both of them looked rather grim.

Seeing their pale faces, Wu Xiaoxie asked curiously, "What happened to you two? Did you not buy any pickled cabbage? Or did the dog owned by the locals chase you around?"

These days, almost every household in the village keeps a dog to guard the house, barking loudly whenever a stranger passes by.

The fat man rolled his eyes. "Nonsense. With my size, even dogs would be scared. I'd be the one chasing them away."

Wu Xiaoxie laughed, "So what happened to you two?"

The fat man sat down by the stove, took out two sauerkrauts from a plastic bag in his pocket, put them in an enamel dish, placed it on the stove lid to warm them, rubbed his hands together, and then said with a heavy expression, "Do you still remember the guide we hired when we went up the mountain?"

“I remember him, Shunzi. What, did you two go to see him specifically?” Wu Xiaoxie asked.

The fat man nodded and said, "I followed Muyu to the little house he used to live in, but the door was locked. We asked a fellow villager, and he said that no one had lived there for a long time and the lock on the door was rusted. I thought something was wrong, so I asked the fellow villager where Shunzi lived. The fellow villager pointed to the place, and guess what we saw?"

"What did you see?"

Panzi chopped a sauerkraut on the cutting board, put it in a dish, mixed it with seasonings, and then put a stack of fried dough sticks on the stove.

The fat man, still shaken, opened his mouth, then sighed, "Let Muyu speak."

Zhang Wuxun picked up a piece of pickled cabbage with his chopsticks, chewed it slowly, and swallowed it. Only then, under the expectant gazes of Wu Xiaoxie and the other man, did he calmly say, "We saw Shunzi's memorial tablet."

Wu Xiaoxie was shocked. "Huh? A memorial tablet! Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Pan Zi frowned as well. "Could it be that the brother didn't come down from the snow mountain this time? That shouldn't be the case. Shouldn't these people know the snow mountain as well as their own backyard? Did you two miss a word in the name of Shunzi's father on that memorial tablet?"

The fat man clapped his hands. "That's the problem. We asked Shunzi's mother and found out that the memorial tablet was erected four years ago."

Zhang Wuxun continued, "Shunzi's mother said that four years ago, Shunzi was caught in an avalanche while patrolling the snow mountain and never came back."

Wu Xiaoxie immediately got goosebumps and stammered, "Then...then who is our guide?"

Zhang Wuxun shook his head. "Either Shunzi's mother is lying, or we really have encountered those inhuman friends. But there's no point in dwelling on it. We'll leave here tomorrow morning, and I doubt we'll ever come back again."

The others nodded in agreement, and Panzi then stir-fried a dish of pickled cabbage, pork stew with vermicelli, and invited everyone to eat.

After dinner, they played a few rounds of cards and then went to bed early.

If Zhang Wuxun were to analyze the situation and consider the original plot, since Shunzi was long gone, the person impersonating him to guide him was very likely the real Wu Sansheng. The secret was so close that there was no reason for him not to seek it out. Moreover, Shunzi's identity would allow Wu Sansheng to perfectly avoid the Wang family's surveillance.

As the hidden pawns of the Wu and Jie families, the two of them sacrificed far too much.

(End of this chapter)