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

Chapter 3 It’s too late to meet
At this moment, Panzi walked over and said, "The old man said it's too early and the boatmen haven't started work yet. Why don't we take a break first?"

Wu Xiaoxie asked in surprise, "Why aren't we starting work yet?"

The old man chuckled and tapped his pipe on the sole of his shoe. “He’s the only boatman here. He’s the best. Whether we start work or not, and when we start, is all up to him. Sometimes he’s too lazy to get up and doesn’t work all day. It can drive you crazy.”

"Then why don't you hold a meeting to discuss removing him and replacing him with someone more capable?" Third Master Wu asked.

"We'd like to, too," the old man said with a wry smile. "You're from out of town, so you don't know. The mountain god here only gives him face; it won't work if someone else takes his place."

Old Master Wu asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

The old man took a puff of his pipe, exhaled a cloud of white smoke, sighed, and said, "Without him leading the way, anyone who went into that cave would never come out. Who knows how he managed it."

Old Master Wu had looked at the map beforehand and knew that they had to pass through a cave ahead. Hearing the old man's words, he felt even more puzzled. "What? Does that cave eat people?"

The old man chuckled but didn't say much, waving his hand, "I don't know, it's all been passed down from generation to generation, who knows if it's true or not."

Upon hearing this, Pan Zi and the others exchanged glances and walked aside. Master Wu then instructed them to take a break.

Wu Sanye squatted down next to the old man and continued to try to get information out of him, but he only learned that the cave was indeed strange and that the boatman was an outsider in his early years. He didn't get any other useful information.

Suddenly, the water plants beside the stream rustled a few times. Wu Sanye quietly placed his hand on the dagger at his waist and saw a dog dart out, carrying a fish about the size of half a palm in its mouth.

The old man chuckled, "Donkey Egg, you've slacked off again today."

Uncle Wu withdrew his hand and asked, "You raised this dog? It looks really sturdy."

The old man shook his head. "No, the dog belongs to the boatman, Donkey Testicles, come here."

The old man clapped his hands and called to the dog.

The dog was plump and strong, with bright, intelligent eyes—clearly a good dog. Old Master Wu couldn't help but feel a fondness for it, and went over to pet it a couple of times. Just as he was about to pick it up, he suddenly smelled a strange odor, and his expression changed. "This dog..."

Wu Xiaoxie was curious, so he went over and touched it a couple of times. He took a sniff and was immediately hit by a foul odor, which made his eyes roll back and he coughed repeatedly.

"Ugh... How long has this damn dog not had a bath?" Wu Xiaoxie jumped back, wishing he could stay far away.

Suddenly, he stepped on something slippery and soft. Wu Xiaoxie looked down and saw that it was the fish that the dog had just picked up and dropped on the ground. When Wu Xiaoxie stepped on it, the rotten fish skin could no longer hold the internal organs inside, and they all gushed out. Wu Xiaoxie even saw a few white maggots inside.

Wu Xiaoxie let out a howl, covered his mouth and was about to vomit when he suddenly remembered that the hand covering his mouth had just touched the dog, so this time he really vomited.

Zhang Wuxun already knew what was going on, so he naturally wouldn't join in the fun. Seeing Wu Xiaoxie make a fool of himself, he secretly laughed.

Wu Xiaoxie was so funny at this time.

Pan Zi laughed heartily, "Young Master, you're still a long way from learning this trick of mine."

Wu Xiaoxie rolled her eyes listlessly.

"Panzi, come here and smell it too," Wu Sanye beckoned.

Pan Zi grinned and tried to bluff his way out, "Third Master, I guess I don't need to."

Old Master Wu, his face stern, said, "Stop babbling and come over here to smell this dog. There's something strange about it." Pan Zi reluctantly walked over, grabbed one of the dog's paws, and sniffed its neck. His expression turned grim, and he whispered, "This...it's the stench of a corpse..."

Zhang Wuxun pretended to be curious and asked, "Uncle, what is the smell of a corpse?"

Pan Zi glanced at Master Wu, and seeing that he didn't object, he turned to Zhang Wuxun and said, "The stench of a corpse is the smell of corpses piled together rotting, infested with maggots, and turning foul. Why don't you smell it too?"

"Ew~" Zhang Wuxun wrinkled his nose, looking both disgusted and curious. "I think I'll pass."

Wu Xiaoxie had recovered by now. Having been exposed to antiques unearthed from tombs since childhood, he knew a bit more about them. Seeing Zhang Wuxun looking like a complete novice, he quickly pulled him aside to explain, "Hey, you don't know this, do you? Although I've never smelled it before, if it can accumulate such a strong odor, there must be a large pit or pile of corpses ahead."

Zhang Wuxun deliberately made his face pale and pretended to be scared, saying, "No way, this is a society ruled by law now, where would we get so many dead people to pile up for him?"

Seeing that his face looked really bad, Wu Xiaoxie quickly laughed it off, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him, "It might not be a dead person. Maybe it's livestock that drowned in the flood, or dead animals that floated by with the current."

Zhang Wuxun nodded, reassuring himself, "Then it must be."

Suddenly remembering something, she turned and glared at Wu Xiaoxie, "You just touched that dog with your right hand, didn't you? Did you wash it?"

Wu Xiaoxie thought to himself, "Damn it!" He realized he had completely forgotten about it.

Zhang Wuxun could tell from his expression that the sharpness in his eyes vanished in an instant. He moved away a little in disgust, saying, "Wash your hands before you talk to me."

Then he took out a small bottle of alcohol spray from his backpack and sprayed it vigorously on the spot where Wu Xiaoxie had just touched.

Wu Xiaoxie's lips twitched, and he silently went to the side to wash his hands.

Wu Sanye also washed his hands with water, shook off the water droplets, lit a cigarette, and said in Hangzhou dialect, "There's probably a cave full of corpses ahead. Take everything you need."

Then, with a cryptic glance at the old man still playing with the dog, he said to Pan Zi, "Keep an eye on Xiao Xie; that old man is suspicious."

Wu Xiaoxie also tacitly approached Zhang Wuxun to try and get information out of him, "Dude, where are you from? Are you also here for tourism?"

Zhang Wuxun does indeed look like a college student, and the identity the system assigned him at this time was indeed that of a college student, and Wu Xiaoxie's junior, though in a different major.

“Yes.” Zhang Wuxun nodded. “I studied abroad for a long time and only returned to China when I went to university.”

"I'm taking advantage of the holiday to get out and about, to take some photos of the scenery in the mountains and countryside," Zhang Wuxun said with a smile. "I'm a student at Zhejiang University."

"Oh, what a coincidence!" Wu Xiaoxie exclaimed in surprise. "I'm also from Zhejiang University, but I graduated several years ago. I studied architecture. What about you?"

Zhang Wuxun also seemed pleasantly surprised, "What a coincidence! I'm in the Foreign Languages ​​Department, majoring in German and minoring in French."

He did indeed study this before, and the system didn't change it when it assigned him a new identity, probably for convenience.

"You're amazing!" Wu Xiaoxie was even more surprised.

After exchanging compliments, Wu Xiaoxie began to show off his knowledge, telling some strange and unusual historical stories. Zhang Wuxun listened in astonishment, repeatedly marveling at how much Wu Xiaoxie knew. Wu Xiaoxie, flattered by the praise, became quite smug.

The two seemed to have hit it off immediately, and if the timing hadn't been wrong, they would have wanted to become sworn brothers right away.

(End of this chapter)