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

Chapter 317 has four corners
Zhang Wuxun took out two gas masks from his backpack and gave one to the young man.

Huo Zhixing and the other two were in a more pitiful state; they could only tear off pieces of cloth from their bodies, soak them in rainwater, and cover their mouths and noses.

Zhang Wuxun led them carefully, crouching low, back into the arched crack that had been blown open earlier to take shelter from the rain.

About half an hour later, a shout came from above the cliff, and the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Who left this smoke?

"Is anyone downstairs? If so, give me a shout!"

Huo Xiaoli's eyes widened suddenly, and she exclaimed excitedly, "Holy crap, did Brother Zhizhi and the others come up the mountain to find us?"

"Let's go out and take a look," Zhang Wuxun said.

Huo Xiaoli immediately ran out, looked up at the cliff top, and shouted loudly, "Who are you? Are you from the Huo family?"

The fat man was standing to the side looking down when he heard the thick smoke rising up, making it hard for them to open their eyes. He immediately replied, "Who are you?"

Just as Huo Xiaoli was about to answer her own name, someone patted her on the shoulder. Turning her head, she saw that Zhang Wuxun and the others had come out.

“That’s right, it’s Fatty and his group.” Zhang Wuxun recognized Fatty’s voice and laughed, “We’ve met the ferryman while crossing the river, what a coincidence.”

Huo Xiaoli was so excited she almost cried. "Damn it, we're finally saved!"

The two groups communicated at the top of their lungs. Fatty and his group tied their climbing ropes to a tree, left a few people up there to provide backup, and then climbed down the cliff.

Upon meeting, the fat man rushed over and gave Zhang Wuxun and the young man a bear hug. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his lips were trembling with excitement. He pulled the two of them over and kept looking them over, saying, "You've lost weight, and you've gotten darker..."

"If Tianzhen knew that you two suffered like this behind his back, he would be heartbroken."

Zhang Wuxun listened to the fat man's rambling, feeling both touched and amused. He had indeed lost weight, but that didn't necessarily mean he was darker-skinned.

They've been underground for five days without seeing the sun, so how can it be dark?

"No, no, it's just that I haven't eaten in a long time and I'm starving. Did you bring any food?" Zhang Wuxun patted his shoulder and said with a grin.

“I brought it, I brought it. I know you two are being dragged along by a few burdens this time, so it won’t be easy for you to move around. I’ve brought plenty of food for you to eat up the mountain.” The fat man swung his backpack over his back, unzipped it, and revealed that it was full of all kinds of energy-boosting and filling food.

Zhang Wuxun chuckled and gave a thumbs up, "You're really something."

Fatty grabbed handfuls of food and stuffed them into Zhang Wuxun and the young man's arms, saying cheerfully, "Eat more. You two are already anemic, and you've been starving for days. The nutrients in the pig's feet soup I used to make for you must have been used up long ago. When we go down the mountain this time, I'll have to have a good talk with that old lady Huo and ask her to contribute some of her so-called 'Ten-Ingredient Tonic Tea' to nourish you two."

As she spoke, she pulled out a beggar's chicken wrapped in lotus leaves from under her backpack. "Eat this first. It's a little cold, but the taste is still authentic. Have a chicken leg to fill your stomachs, but don't eat too much at once. Otherwise, you two haven't had any oil or fat in your stomachs these days, and if you suddenly eat too much meat, your stomachs will definitely be upset."

While Zhang Wuxun and his two companions huddled together eating and talking, Huo Xiaoli, smelling the aroma of roast chicken, was munching on dry, compressed biscuits, tears welling up in her eyes.

Zhang Wuxun was always sensitive to other people's gazes, let alone Huo Xiaoli's gaze, which was like two ultraviolet light bulbs burning his back, making it hard not to notice.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Do you want some too?" Zhang Wuxun turned to look at Huo Xiaoli and raised an eyebrow.

Huo Xiaoli subconsciously wanted to nod, but then immediately realized what she was doing, turned her eyes away with difficulty, and denied it outright: "You're mistaken, I didn't want to eat it."

"Oh, really?" Zhang Wuxun said with a smile. "I was thinking that we couldn't finish it, so I planned to share some with you. But since you don't need it, I'll just have to throw the rest up the mountain to feed the wild animals. Anyway, it might have already gone bad by the time I brought it back."

Upon hearing this, Huo Xiaoli's eyes widened immediately, and she protested plaintively, "Wasting food is shameful!"

The fat man deliberately put on a stern face and said, "Hey, you little brat, how dare you talk to your Master Yu like that?"

Zhang Wuxun chimed in, "Did you hear that? The food belongs to our Fatty. If you really want to eat it, we can discuss it."

Huo Xiaoli hesitated for less than two seconds before pulling Huo Xiaojiu to the fat man's side and flattering him, "Fatty, you've walked so far, your legs must be sore. We two brothers are great at massage, let us massage your legs and help you relax."

Huo Zhixing, standing to the side, sighed helplessly, indicating that he couldn't bear to watch.

In response, Huo Xiaoli said, "What is backbone? Can you eat it?"
No! Therefore, no matter how big the world is, rice is the most important thing.

A true man is one who can bend and stretch.

Seeing that Zhang Wuxun was deliberately teasing the two kids, the fat man went along with it, letting them give him a few perfunctory poundings. Then he gave the rest of the roast chicken to Huo Xiaoli and Zhang Wuxun, saying, "You two still need to practice more to improve your technique."

Huo Xiaoli's mind was already focused on the roast chicken, and he didn't hear a word the fat man said.

However, he still showed his loyalty by giving Huo Zhixing the largest piece of pork tenderloin, saying, "Brother Zhixing, you should eat too."

Huo Zhixing nodded slightly to Fatty and Zhang Wuxun to express his gratitude.

He knew that the seemingly unreliable Master Yu did not intend to amuse his two younger brothers with a piece of meat, but rather to distract Huo Xiaoli and the other boy and help them quickly recover from the grief of losing their former companion.

On the other side, Huo Zhizhi glanced around and saw that the original seven-person team was missing two people. He immediately realized that the two missing people were probably not going to make it out.

However, apart from that, he didn't have any special expression on his face, as if he had already taken these things lightly.

The job of tomb raiding is essentially putting one's life on the line.

In such a rare and exceptional battle, the death of one or two people is considered a very minor, almost negligible, casualty.

Huo Zhizhi had been by Old Madam Huo's side for many years and was already used to these things.

He personally handled some of the Huo family's dirty business. In the seemingly impressive courtyard where Zhang Wuxun and the others had once stayed, countless bones were buried under the weeds. That was where the Huo family secretly used private punishments to deal with traitors and those who betrayed their own family.

While Zhang Wu was looking for them to eat something, Huo Zhizhi had already led his men to extinguish the half-burnt fire. Then he went down into the crevice behind the ancient tree to take a look, took pictures, discussed it with Huo Zhixing for a while, and then took out the map he carried with him and marked it.

Then he came over and said to Zhang Wuxun, "Now that we've found the entrance, let's hurry down the mountain. There's probably going to be another downpour soon, and it's too dangerous to stay on the mountain."

"Then let's go down the mountain." Zhang Wuxun nodded upon hearing this, chewing on the beef jerky that the fat man had brought. He thought the taste was alright, so he simply handed the bag to the young man.

In the past, when I went into tombs, I was always surrounded by people I knew well, and I could just take out any food from the tomb and eat it.

This time, not only Xiao Ge, but he himself felt it was really too miserable. Fortunately, he had an energy gel that didn't take up much space, so he could take it out to replenish his energy and avoid arousing suspicion from Huo Zhixing and the others.

Unable to participate in the subsequent work, Zhang Wuxun and the other two climbed up the cliff by pulling on ropes.

Huo Zhizhi remained below, directing his men to tie some eye-catching red ribbons to the tree trunks. After climbing up, they tied a colorful flag to a tree next to the cliff as a marker.

Then he called Zhang Wuxun and the others to prepare to go down the mountain.

They returned to the lakeside at the foot of the mountain, where the accompanying team doctor immediately surrounded Zhang Wuxun and the others to treat their wounds. However, after examination, it was found that the wounds on their bodies had already been treated and there were no signs of infection. So, they were given IV drips of glucose and told to rest well.

When I woke up, it was already late at night.

The camp was still brightly lit, and a lot of documents and photos were spread out on the table in the center of the tent. Huo Xiangu was discussing the rock blasting and clearing with her geological engineering technicians all night long.

As expected, the rain intensified in the evening, and the pattering raindrops drowned out everyone's voices.

As soon as Zhang Wuxun stepped out of the tent, the rich and delicious aroma of mutton soup wafted over, and subtle noises came from the tent next to him.

He turned his head and saw the young man carrying a knife lifting the curtain and walking out.

Zhang Wuxun's stomach was growling with hunger, so he said to the young man, "Let's go take a look in the kitchen and see what they've prepared."

The two arrived at the tent that was being used as a makeshift kitchen. Amidst the smoke, a familiar, chubby figure was busy at the stove.

"Fatty!" Zhang Wuxun exclaimed in surprise, "You're still up so late?"

Upon hearing this, the fat man turned his head and glanced at the two of them. "Hey, you two are awake. There are chairs over there. Sit down and wait a while. The mutton soup will be ready soon."

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and held a large iron ladle in one hand, stirring the mutton in the pot to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.

Zhang Wuxun pulled out a stool for the young man to sit down first, put a handful of peanuts in the dish in front of him, and then leaned over to the stove, bent down and looked into the firebox below. Seeing that the fire was a little small, he grabbed a handful of loose firewood and stuffed it in.

There's an old saying: "High heat makes the soup thick, low heat makes the soup thin." When stewing mutton soup, try to keep the heat high throughout the process. This will result in a soup that is not only rich in flavor but also milky white in color. If you switch to low heat, the soup will not only be thin but also lack flavor.

A few minutes later, the fat man scooped out a bowl of soup, tasted it, and thought it was about right. He then sprinkled some chopped green onions into the soup and said to Zhang Wuxun, "It's done, it's done. Muyu, you don't need to add any more firewood. Hurry up and go sit by the table."

"Alright." Zhang Wuxun replied happily, brushed the firewood off his hands, and got up to go to the edge of the tent to fetch water to wash his hands.

The fat man is an expert when it comes to cooking; nothing he makes is ever bad.

"Quickly try the nourishing mutton soup that Fatty made for you two." Fatty happily brought over two large bowls of fragrant and rich mutton soup, one with cilantro and the other without, and placed them on the table, urging the two to eat quickly.

Zhang Wuxun took a bite and found the mutton tender and juicy. The soup was rich and flavorful with a faint herbal aroma. He stirred it with a spoon and discovered that there were many precious medicinal herbs floating in it.

Immediately recognizing ginseng slices, goji berries, angelica, and he shou wu, one can't help but exclaim in surprise, "Where did you get so many herbs to replenish qi and blood?"

The fat man grinned slyly and lowered his voice, "While you two were resting earlier, I secretly went to take a look around Old Madam Huo's private treasury. I found that it was full of all kinds of precious medicinal herbs. There were even several large boxes of Danshen, which can save lives in critical moments, as well as Hongban Gui, which can relieve phlegm, stop coughs, lower blood pressure, and detoxify, and Tianshan Snow Lotus, which can dispel rheumatism. However, I only secretly took a small handful of the less expensive ones. That brat Huo Zhizhi should not find out."

“But I just feel something’s off.” The fat man stroked his chin and frowned. “When the heavy rain came earlier, Old Madam Huo looked unwell. Huo Zhizhi fed her medicinal tea every day, but she didn’t get better. Yesterday, when she called me to the tent to talk, I noticed that there seemed to be a faint deathly aura between her brows, and her face was deathly pale.”

"Hey, do you guys think that old woman might be nearing the end of her life, and she wants to drag all of us, whom she doesn't like, down with her as her burial offerings?"

“No.” The waiter, who had been quietly drinking his soup, suddenly spoke up. Seeing Zhang Wuxun and the other man looking over in surprise, he said softly, “She has no right to be willful.”

The fat man was a little confused. "What do you mean?"

The young man stopped talking. Seeing that the fat man still wanted to speak, the young man pushed a plate of peanuts that he had just peeled in front of him.

Zhang Wuxun burst out laughing, "This is the first time in my life, Fatty! You peeled these peanuts yourself, little brother, remember to save some for me."

The fat man chuckled and grabbed all the peanuts from the plate into his pocket, boasting, "That won't do. This is clearly Brother Xiao's favoritism towards Fatty. Fatty has to treasure it like a precious gem."

Zhang Wuxun's smile froze instantly, and she turned to stare at the young man with longing eyes.

The waiter paused as he scooped soup with his spoon. After a few seconds of silence, he took something out of his pocket and gestured for Zhang Wuxun to open his palm.

Zhang Wuxun's eyes immediately crinkled with laughter, and he quickly spread his hands.

Then he felt the waiter place a small, hard, and cold object in his palm, then withdraw his hand and continue drinking his soup as if nothing had happened.

When Zhang Wuxun saw the little thing clearly, he was completely stunned.

It was a small, ordinary stone, no bigger than the tip of a thumb, and grayish-white in color.

It looks like a triangular pyramid with four corners.

Thank you so much to the generous donors [Please complete your profile] and [秋露白v] for the generous donation! Sending you a huge heart!

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(End of this chapter)