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

Chapter 224 Miasma Serpent Cocoon
(A few minor revisions were made to the end of the previous chapter) ————————————

Under the pale moonlight, the entire camp was dark and silent. Thick, ink-like miasma acted as a barrier, isolating the camp from the outside world.

In the dead silence, a rustling sound gradually grew louder and spread toward the tent.

Something crawled across the ground, crushing the unburnt embers of the fire with a soft "crack," and scattered sparks beneath the fire scorched something.
Several figures were vaguely visible in the black mist. They stood up unsteadily and crossed the pale yellow powder around the tent in a strange arched shape. Their huge bodies twisted and turned. With each step forward, the blood-red snakes wrapped around their bodies would writhe, and every now and then, a small snake would fall off unsteadily.

At the very top of the giant snake cocoon was a bright red crested snake, which was much larger than the other snakes. It shook its fiery red crest and directed the snake cocoon to head towards the tent where the sweet potatoes were placed.

With a loud crash.

It was as if a mudslide, carrying broken branches and leaves, was crashing down on the tent roof with overwhelming force.

Just as Zhang Wuxun covered the fat man and Wu Xiaoxie, who were completely unaware of what was happening outside, with the mud-covered waterproof tarp, he heard a noise coming from the tent about five meters away from them.

Then came another, even louder thud than before, the sound of the tent's frame breaking could be heard, followed by a tearing sound as the tent fabric ripped, and finally collapsed under the weight.

The sounds of impact came from all directions of the camp, followed by several loud bangs and then the sound of tents collapsing.

Zhang Wuxun listened intently to pinpoint the location of the sounds, and in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the several tents where he had placed hot sweet potatoes as substitutes were all destroyed by the pheasant neck.

The heavy dragging sound hadn't stopped when it passed by their tent. It seemed to lose its balance and sway, hitting the tent, which shook violently. It remained still for a long time, as if it thought there was no prey there, and then the dragging sound gradually faded away.

Zhang Wuxun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, the fat man on the cot made a noise.

Perhaps the gas mask was too stuffy, and the thick layer of wet mud made it hard for the fat man to breathe. He grunted and kicked off the waterproof sheet covering him.

Zhang Wuxun cursed under his breath, then immediately bent down and rushed over to cover it up again.

Unexpectedly, the fat man suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze hazy. When he saw a dark figure crouching beside him, he trembled with fright and immediately rolled over to jump up, causing the cot to creak.

Zhang Wuxun thought to himself that something bad was about to happen, so he quickly bent his knees and pressed them against the man's stomach to hold him down. He also turned on the backlight on his watch and gestured to him.

In his sleep, the fat man felt something pressing on his chest, like a weight, heavy and making it hard to breathe. His throat was dry and tight. In his drowsy state, he kicked the thing off, but it bounced back like a roly-poly toy. He was instantly furious.

He opened his eyes, panting heavily, and was suddenly struck by a dark shadow with gleaming eyes standing guard beside him like a vengeful ghost. He was so frightened that he almost screamed out loud. Coupled with the heavy feeling of sleep paralysis, cold sweat instantly broke out on his back and rushed to the top of his head, and his heart sank.

Before he could recover from his stiffness, the dark figure produced a small glow, illuminating the black gas mask on its face, and made a few familiar hand gestures. The fat man's numb mind suddenly registered what was happening.

Then he felt something on his face, reached out and touched it, and immediately realized something was wrong. He quickly nodded to Zhang Wuxun.

Seeing that he had come to his senses, Zhang Wuxun lowered his knees, pointed to the tent to indicate that there was something going on outside and that he should not move. Then he turned off the watch's nightlight.

Before they could even catch their breath, Wu Xiaoxie seemed to have been woken up by the commotion outside. As soon as he opened his eyes, Zhang Wuxun reacted quickly, reaching out and pressing his hand on Wu Xiaoxie's neck to knock him unconscious.

Okay, that's enough for now.

The stalemate lasted for an unknown amount of time before the sounds of impact outside finally ceased, followed by a long period of deathly silence. Zhang Wuxun turned on his watch and glanced at the time: 5:39 AM. The night was finally over.

Two light footsteps came from outside the tent, and then the curtain, covered in mud, was lifted from the outside.

A ray of light shone through the crack, and it was dawn.

"Are you all alright?" Pan Zi had already taken off his gas mask, and the young man stood behind him holding a knife.

Zhang Wuxun then realized that his whole body was stiff and he wanted to stand up. As soon as he moved his foot slightly, a piercing tingling and numbness shot up from the soles of his feet, like an electric shock. His legs suddenly lost all strength, and his body swayed and fell to the side.

Pan Zi quickly helped Zhang Wuxun sit on the empty cot next to him and reached out to press the acupoints on his calves.

"You little rascal, you've been keeping watch over Third Master and the others all night, haven't you?" Pan Zi said with a laugh.

Zhang Wuxun waved wearily and took off the gas mask from his face.

The young man rolled up the curtain and hung it on the iron hook next to it, letting the morning sunlight shine in and dispel the darkness in the room.

The fat man immediately jumped up, looked outside the tent, and was immediately shocked. He hurriedly asked, "What was that noise last night? Was it a tornado? How did the camp become such a mess?"

Panzi explained the whole story clearly.

Upon hearing this, the fat man cursed, "Damn it, these bastards are like ghosts that won't leave you alone."

Pan Zi woke up Wu Xiaoxie from his deep sleep.

The group stepped out of the tent, where the area was in complete disarray.

In the thin mist, the campsite, which had just been set up yesterday, now looked as if it had been ravaged by a flash flood. Everywhere there were ruins and broken walls. Apart from their two tents covered with mud, all the other tents had collapsed and were rotten to pieces.

The vast camp was empty and desolate, with many messy drag marks on the ground, indicating that they were attacked by some enormous creatures last night.

"Damn it," Panzi cursed, "Muyu was right. This place looked just like this when we came here yesterday. It seems that Third Master and the others were indeed attacked by a swarm of snakes."

Wu Xiaoxie gasped, his face turning pale. "No wonder there was so much equipment left in the tent. Uncle San and the others must have suffered heavy losses."

With most people dead, the extra equipment was naturally useless.

The fat man said in confusion, "But we checked the area and didn't find any bodies or bloodstains around the camp."

Wu Xiaoxie nodded. "So, those bodies were either buried and cleaned up by Uncle San and the others, or they were taken away by Wild Chicken Neck."

(End of this chapter)