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

Chapter 311 Five Forces
"It turns out that being beaten while cowering really hurts several times more." Xie Yuchen weighed the brocade box in his hand, in a good mood.

Zhang Wuxun and the other three were in a good mood.

The fat man chuckled strangely when he saw how much the box treasured him, even after being knocked away twice, still clutching it tightly to his chest.

Seeing that their expressions seemed a bit strange, Xie Yuchen immediately realized something, quickly opened the box, and found that it contained only a dark, broken stone.

“You guys…” Xie Yuchen shook his head, both amused and exasperated. “I underestimated you.”

Fatty and Wu Xiaoxie burst into laughter, "Haha, you're dumbfounded now, aren't you? This is what they call 'all's fair in war'."

Zhang Wuxun bent down to pick up the iron pellets from the ground. "Let those guys squatting in the tree come down. In a little while, the whole yard will be full of mosquitoes having a party on them."

Xie Yuchen was not at all surprised by his insightful words. He put away the dagger, put down the brocade box, clapped his hands lightly, and a few whistles came from outside the window, causing the treetops to rustle.

In an instant, five or six men dressed in black shorts stood under the tree.

At the same time, footsteps came from outside the door. Huo Xiangu and Huo Xiuxiu pushed open the wooden door, which was almost falling off its frame, and walked in one after the other.

Upon seeing the scene inside the room, Huo Xiuxiu covered her mouth and chuckled, looking at Xie Yuchen with a teasing expression, "How about it, Brother Xiaohua? I told you Brother Wu Xie is quite clever."

Xie Yuchen smiled and nodded, "The old lady's taste is as good as ever."

He waved to the three men who had just woken up and were huddled in the corner, saying, "You can leave now and go collect your medical expenses."

The three men, their faces bruised and swollen, limped out the door.

He looked extremely pitiful, after all, the fat man had cracked his head open, and he'd probably be lying in the hospital for several days.

As Wu Xiaoxie watched, he realized what was going on. His gaze swept over Huo Xiangu and Xie Yuchen. "So you two are in cahoots!"

The fat man sneered, "Old women, you guys are really taking us too lightly, aren't you? Are you deliberately messing with us?"

Huo Xiangu ignored him, but looked at Wu Xiaoxie and said with a faint smile, "You and your grandfather are a lot alike when you were young. No matter what the situation, you always think of the good first and then the bad."

"So, in this situation, you're still standing still, not choosing to do anything to gain an advantage."

“That’s not quite right.” Zhang Wuxun sat leisurely on the sofa, flicking the dust off the corner of his clothes with his finger. “We’ve always had our advantages. Now, it’s you, Grandma, and this young master Jiu who are taking the initiative to seek cooperation with us.”

Huo Xiangu was silent for two seconds, "As expected of the Buddha's family and the descendants of this young man, they are truly exceptionally insightful."

Zhang Wuxun's smile immediately vanished, and a faint hint of murderous intent appeared between his brows and eyes. "Grandma, now that you've said that, we won't be able to have a pleasant conversation anymore."

"The Zhang family's abilities are a gift from God, but they have nothing to do with Zhang Qishan."

Huo Xiangu paused for a moment, looked at the young man, and then said apologetically, "It was my oversight. I hope this young friend won't mind."

Zhang Wuxun remained silent with a cold face. Seeing that he was angry, Wu Xiaoxie and the others naturally wouldn't give the old lady a way out.

The awkward silence was broken by a soft laugh.

Xie Yuchen smiled and pointed at Zhang Wuxun, saying, "This is the first time I've seen someone with such a strong personality. Why don't we assign him to my side? That would increase his chances of success."

Huo Xiangu ignored his words and said to Wu Xiaoxie, "I was just testing you guys to show him that my judgment is correct."

Upon seeing Xie Yuchen dressed in women's clothing, looking all pink and delicate, the fat man became a little annoyed. "What kind of taste do you have? Do you want the four of us to become transvestites too?"

Xie Yuchen glanced at him disdainfully, "Come on, even if you agree, I still won't. It's an eyesore."

“However, apart from you, the other three are quite suitable.” Xie Yuchen smiled knowingly.

"What the hell? You're looking down on me." The fat man retorted instinctively, but found that no matter how he tried to refute it, something seemed off, and he was speechless for a moment.

Xie Yuchen walked up to Wu Xiaoxie and said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Xie Yuchen, nicknamed Xie Yuhua. I am the current head of the Xie family of the Nine Gates. When we were kids, we played together during the New Year's greetings. However, you are introverted and not very sociable, so we were not close. After so many years, it seems you have long forgotten me."

"Yeah," Huo Xiuxiu said, half-jokingly and half-complainingly, "You can't even tell if I'm real or not. You're not even as good as this fat guy. It's really heartbreaking. When we were kids playing house, you said you wanted to marry Brother Xiaohua. I never thought you wouldn't even recognize me when we meet."

After listening to the two of them, Wu Xiaoxie looked shocked and confused. "I don't remember any of these things at all..."

"Ah!" Fragments of memories flashed through Wu Xiaoxie's mind. No wonder he always felt that the pink shirt looked familiar, but he couldn't find it in his old circle of friends. It turned out to be a child from when he was six or seven years old.

There were quite a few kids playing together at the time, and he wasn't sure which one this older friend was. He asked uncertainly, "You said your name is Jieyuhua, so you wouldn't happen to be... that 'Little Flower', would you?"

Xie Yuchen smiled, "What, doesn't it look like it?"

Wu Xiaoxie was even more confused and said, somewhat devastated, "But how come I remember that Xiaohua back then was a girl?"

She glanced at Xie Yuchen with some suspicion and asked cautiously, "Um, you've had a sex change?"

Xie Yuchen immediately stopped laughing and said irritably, "You're not mistaken, but I was just a bit pretty back then. I also learned opera from Second Master, singing female roles and virtuous women. Many people couldn't tell the difference and thought I was a woman."

"Haha, is that so?" Wu Xiaoxie chuckled awkwardly and scratched his head.

The atmosphere was so awkward that Zhang Wuxun spoke up to defuse the situation, saying, "Now that the family reunion is over, we should get down to business. Let's finish this discussion and go to bed early."

Without any hesitation, Huo Xiangu pointed to the small gap in the sofa between Zhang Wuxun and the young man and said, "My old lady is getting on in years and has difficulty walking. Please make room for me to rest my feet."

Zhang Wuxun readily got up and stood next to Wu Xiaoxie.

Huo Xiangu asked Huo Xiuxiu to help her sit down before explaining her purpose: "Xiuxiu, bring out the blueprints."

Huo Xiuxiu nodded and took out several rolls of patterned grease wrapped in kraft paper and plastic wrap from her bag.

He walked to the table and spread out the drawings one by one.

To prevent damage, a substance similar to tung oil was applied to the drawings for corrosion protection.

"Xie Yuchen and I will be collaborating on a lama stunt soon," Huo Xiangu said, patting the blueprints. "I need your help. If you agree, the rewards will be plentiful." Wu Xiaoxie already understood her intention. "You're going to find that ancient building on the blueprints?"

Seeing that Yu Chen nodded, he asked again, "Have you found the location of this building?"

Xie Yuchen glanced at Huo Xiangu, who nodded. "Tell them."

Xie Yuchen then asked Huo Xiuxiu to turn on the light, took out an engineering drawing, spread it out, and showed it to Wu Xiaoxie and the others. "After you told us about your experiences in Guangxi, we had some inspiration, so we found someone to use computer technology to summarize the layout of these seven Yangshi Lei drawings and reconstruct the structural diagram of the entire building."

“Look,” Xie Yuchen said, pointing to two of the Lei patterns. “Based on your findings, we have deduced that the Zhang Family Building should be two separate parts. What you saw at the bottom of the lake were the first and second floors of the Zhang Family Building, while the rest of the main structure is hidden deep in the mountains near the lake.”

“What we’re looking for is the main part of Zhangjialou,” Xie Yuchen said. “You’re all experts at capturing lamas, with a wealth of experience. If we cooperate, in addition to splitting the spoils from this trip, we’ll also give you extra compensation.”

Wu Xiaoxie frowned. "Whether there's a reward or not, we're not short of money. But if I may be frank, the first and second floors of this place are extremely dangerous, not to mention the other floors. I'm afraid that we might get in but not come out alive."

Xie Yuchen laughed, "Are you so insecure about your abilities? Every single one of the raids you've done before was fraught with danger. Besides, this is such a lucrative raid; the people around you all make a living from this. It's like something delivered to your door; there's no reason to refuse it."

“That won’t work either.” Wu Xiaoxie shook his head and refused, even though he knew this was likely the last piece of the puzzle. His first reaction was still to refuse. “This is risky, even suicide. You two should find someone else.”

Seeing his unyielding attitude, Xie Yuchen was somewhat at a loss.

She wanted to persuade Wu Xiaoxie to reconsider, but Huo Xiangu looked directly at Xiao Ge and asked, "What do you think?"

The fat man immediately twisted his waist and stepped forward to block Huo Xiangu's view. "The four of us are of one mind and will advance and retreat together. It's no use for you to sow discord. From the first time we met, you old woman have been scheming and testing us. Who knows if this trip will push us into a fire pit?"

Wu Xiaoxie really wanted to applaud the fat man on the spot. He was absolutely right!

Unmoved, Huo Xiangu turned to look at Zhang Wuxun, "What do you think, young friend?"

Zhang Wuxun smiled and said, "Whether I go or not is none of my business, but the sincerity you've shown is still a bit lacking."

Xie Yuchen immediately replied, "The remuneration can be discussed further, and I can offer a maximum of 50/50 profit sharing."

He's a businessman; who would do a business that doesn't make money?

Zhang Wuxun shook his head. "That's not what I meant, Grandma Huo. Your sincerity is insufficient."

“In terms of ingenious skills, you have been immersed in them for many years, and we naturally cannot compare. But you can’t fool us. I guess you’ve forgotten. Let me remind you again.” Zhang Wuxun curled the corners of his mouth and sneered, “I am a member of the Zhang family. I know more than you do.”

"Oh, right." Zhang Wuxun pulled out a yellowed photo from his pocket, wrapped in a waterproof plastic seal. "You probably really forgot. Let me show you this."

Zhang Wuxun held up a corner of the photo to Huo Xiangu, saying, "I think you should be very familiar with this person."

Upon seeing the photo, Huo Xiangu's dark eyes instantly flashed with intense hatred, and her aura of being in a high position for many years was undisguised. Her hand, which was resting on the sofa armrest, tore through the outer layer of skin due to the force she exerted.

"Where did you get these photos?" Huo Xiangu asked in a hoarse voice, her dry, well-like eyes staring intently at Zhang Wuxun.

Huo Xiuxiu and Xie Yuchen, who were standing nearby, were both surprised by Huo Xiangu's reaction. Due to the angle, they couldn't see the contents of the photo clearly.

But Wu Xiaoxie and the others had seen the photo and knew what the image was, so they found it very strange that Old Mrs. Huo was so shocked.

"Grandma Huo, do you know the people in this picture?" Wu Xiaoxie asked in confusion.

Huo Xiangu felt as if someone had pricked her forehead with an ice cube, and she shuddered, a thin layer of cold sweat appearing on her forehead.

This photo is the one that Wu Erbai gave to Wu Xiaoxie back in Banna.

Wu Erbai once said that all secrets eventually come back to this photograph.

Before Zhang Wuxun could reply, Huo Xiangu, regaining her senses, looked away and said, "I don't recognize him. I didn't see his face, just a blurry back view. Who could see him clearly?"

Such blatant perfunctory behavior is something anyone could sense was wrong.

Wu Xiaoxie wanted to ask more questions, but Zhang Wuxun gave him a hand gesture, so he swallowed his words and waited to see what Zhang Wuxun would say.

“It doesn’t matter if we don’t know each other.” Zhang Wuxun said dismissively. “Then let me ask you another question: what was the true purpose of the organizers of that largest tomb raiding operation back then?”

He always felt that Zhang Qishan's purpose in that tomb raiding was not simply to help the higher-ups find a way to achieve immortality. So what role did the Wang family play in it?
Perhaps, that large group originally comprised five factions: the Nine Gates, Zhang Qishan, and above them, Zhang Qiling and the Wang family.

Of the five factions, apart from Xiao Ge, who simply made a deal with the Nine Gates, and the Nine Gates, who were half-voluntarily and half-coerced, the other three factions were all acting independently and harboring their own ulterior motives.

That's why that operation failed so completely.

The strength of the Nine Gates plummeted. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Qishan shifted the blame to Zhang Qiling and took the opportunity to slip away and hide in the shadows.

In retrospect, it seems that the only true beneficiary of that operation was the Wang family, who remained hidden the deepest.

Upon hearing Zhang Wuxun's question, Huo Xiangu looked disgusted and said, "No comment."

"Let me give you a piece of advice: this is not something you should be investigating. Be careful not to get yourself into trouble."

Zhang Wuxun smiled innocently, "You don't need to worry about that. I already know the answer I want."

Huo Xiangu's face was very ugly. She then realized that her previous assessment of Zhang Wuxun was completely wrong.

What she knew was just the tip of the iceberg that Zhang Wuxun wanted others to know. When his claws were truly revealed, he would ruthlessly tear a large chunk of flesh from the other person's chest.

The conversation between the two ended quickly. Zhang Wuxun put away the photos and walked back to the young man's side.

The young man raised his eyelids and looked at him.

Zhang Wuxun nodded, "I'll listen to you."

Good night~
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(End of this chapter)