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

Chapter 244 Going Downstream
Zhang Wuxun and his companions found a filthy Chen Wenjin in the mud pit of the well.

Zhang Wuxun sensed that the safety buckle was here, so there was only one possibility: the young man had given the safety buckle to Chen Wenjin.

Zhang Wuxun then asked her, "Where's my brother?"

Chen Wenjin stood up, clasped his hands together, keeping his palms hollow, placed his mouth in the groove formed between his thumb and forefinger, and made a "clucking" sound towards the other side of the well.

Zhang Wuxun watched her movements and finally understood how she controlled the pheasant that had bitten "A Ning" on the neck.

Soon, a series of "clucking" responses came from deep within the crevice.

A moment later, very light footsteps sounded from the other side of the gap, and a young man dressed in black squeezed out from inside.

Wu Xiaoxie stared at the suddenly appearing young man for a few moments, then suddenly realized, "So you two are in cahoots!"

"Damn it! This is infuriating!" Wu Xiaoxie said, feeling a bit annoyed. "You two set this up on purpose, didn't you? You've completely fooled us."

Chen Wenjin gave a wry smile. "It's not what you think. Actually, it's very simple. Qi Ling recognized me in Dingzhu Zhuoma's tent, but he didn't expose me."

“He chased after me and met me in the swamp at the mouth of the canyon. What happened next was a conspiracy, but it was also out of caution,” Chen Wenjin said.

Wu Xiaoxie looked at Xiao Ge, and seeing him nod, he immediately became furious, "Why the hell didn't you say so? That's too much!"

The young man lifted his eyelids and said calmly, "I already gave you a hint."

"Nonsense!" Wu Xiaoxie jumped up and down. "When did you hint at this to me? How come I didn't know?"

The young man turned to look at Zhang Wuxun, who seemed indifferent, and asked, "Didn't you tell him?"

Wu Xiaoxie abruptly turned his head to glare at him, his voice squeezed out through clenched teeth, viciously, "You knew too?!"

Zhang Wuxun coughed twice, "Back then in Dingzhu Zhuoma's tent, didn't I ask a question in Tibetan at the end?"

“I know a little about micro-expressions, and Sister Wenjin’s makeup skills are indeed a bit terrible,” Zhang Wuxun explained.

“At first I just felt something was wrong, but the young man suddenly asked, ‘How is she doing now?’ And he was staring at Dingzhu Zhuoma’s daughter-in-law when he asked. And when Dingzhu Zhuoma was speaking, she seemed confident and composed, but her eyes would occasionally linger on her daughter-in-law. So I asked that question as a test.”

“Her reaction was suspicious at the time, which is why I suspected that she was Wenjin in disguise.”

After hearing this, Chen Wenjin looked a little surprised. "I thought Qi Ling told you. I didn't expect that I would reveal so many flaws after only meeting you once."

Zhang Wuxun scratched his face and smiled modestly. In fact, if he were not familiar with the original plot, even if he suspected that Zhuoma's daughter-in-law was strange, he would not necessarily associate her with the elusive Chen Wenjin. He might have thought that she was someone arranged by the Wang family.

"Damn it!" Wu Xiaoxie was even more annoyed after hearing this. "I don't understand Tibetan, how am I supposed to know what you're asking? You two are so unfair."

No sooner had he finished speaking than several gunshots and screams rang out in the distance.

The fat man who had been squatting on the side watching the melons got up, patted the dirt off his butt, peered into the crack, and turned back to say, "I say, gentlemen, shouldn't we move to another place? If they keep going like this, they'll attract the snakes again in no time." Chen Wenjin pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the sounds outside, turned to look at Wu Xiaoxie, who looked hesitant, patted his head like a kind elder, and said softly, "This is a very long plan, more complicated than you can imagine. Let's leave here first. Once we get there, you can ask me anything you want to know."

Wu Xiaoxie knew that the current situation was not suitable for a heart-to-heart talk, so he nodded.

The group quickly retreated into the depths of the muddy path, following Chen Wenjin.

"Aunt Wenjin, aren't you planning to meet up with my third uncle?" Wu Xiaoxie asked softly as they walked.

“We don’t have much time left,” Chen Wenjin said. “Have you noticed that the sound of water around us is getting quieter?”

She continued, "The underground waterways here are very complex, but the water flow can guide us. As long as we go against any waterway, we will eventually reach the surface. Similarly, if we go with the water flow, we will definitely reach the end of the underground waterway."

“The rain has stopped outside now. Once the rainy season ends and the water level in the swamp drops, we will be trapped here and die in a day or two.” Chen Wenjin spoke with a serious expression and tone, calmly presenting the facts to Wu Xiaoxie.

“Your third uncle has the same goal as us. As long as nothing unexpected happens along the way, we will definitely run into him. Don’t worry,” Zhang Wuxun said, reassuring him.

Wu Xiaoxie also realized the seriousness of the matter and nodded. What Chen Wenjin and the other person said was indeed reasonable. The biggest secret was within reach. His third uncle had been searching for it for most of his life, and given his personality, he certainly wouldn't want to miss it.

The journey was uneventful, with occasional sporadic gunshots, but they were always far away from their location.

Chen Wenjin led the way without stopping until six or seven in the morning, after which the well tunnels became less complicated.

There is no continuous accumulation of silt at the bottom of the well here, and the surrounding area is all natural rock caves, without any trace of artificial excavation.

Through a layer of rock wall, one could hear the rushing sound of water flowing in the nearby waterways; clearly, the water in all the wells was converging towards the underground water storage system at the very center.

By this time, it was already broad daylight outside, and a massive swarm of snakes began to return, their numbers astonishing.

Moreover, after walking for so long, everyone needs to eat something to replenish their energy and rest.

Chen Wenjin was very experienced in how to conceal their whereabouts. She first had the people wearing coats take off their clothes, wet them with water, smear them with mud, and then stuff the corners of their clothes into the cracks in the well, securing them with wet mud.

Like pasting paper on windows, cover all four pieces of clothing with mud to make a wall.

“So, from the snake’s perspective, this passage is closed,” Chen Wenjin explained. “That’s how I’ve been getting by these past few days.”

The place was damp and chilly, so the fat man started a small fire to barely warm them up.

Zhang Wuxun rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a self-heating meal. Their water resources were relatively abundant; there was water everywhere, and it could be drunk after being disinfected and heated, so there was no need to conserve it.

Zhang Wuxun's backpack didn't seem to contain much, but he always managed to pull out some unexpected items.

A hint of curiosity flickered in Chen Wenjin's eyes, but seeing how Wu Xiaoxie and the others seemed to take it for granted, especially since Xiao Ge didn't seem surprised or wary, Chen Wenjin thought for a moment and a knowing look crossed his face.

(End of this chapter)