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

Chapter 321 Qionglong Stone Shadow
The pottery jars in the pit were badly broken, and the patterns on them were tangled with hair and could not be seen clearly.

Seeing that Jie Yuchen had already walked far away, Wu Xiaoxie quickly chased after him.

The two walked another twenty meters or so when Wu Xiaoxie suddenly stepped on something and made a crisp sound.

Looking down, I saw it was a shard of pottery. Shining my flashlight forward, I found similar shards of pottery scattered all over the passage ahead.

A few meters further ahead, the ground was littered with pottery jars, stretching all the way to the end of the passage.

What's chilling is that each of those pottery jars had an irregularly shaped spherical object, about the size of a melon, growing from its mouth.

Under the dim yellow light of the miner's lamp, countless thick, dark hairs, like cotton wool, spread out from these spherical objects, spreading out like a carpet, densely covering the entire passage, and even the surrounding cave walls.

Wu Xiaoxie and the other person fell silent instantly, even their breathing became soft.

The entire cave was chilly, and the cold air immediately caused goosebumps to break out on the skin of those who had been sweating.

Wu Xiaoxie felt a chill run down his spine, his voice tightened, he swallowed hard, and asked in a low voice, "Are these all... human heads?"

Xie Yuchen didn't say anything, but lit a tinderbox and tossed it in.

Upon contact with the flame, the hair that had spread to the edges immediately emitted a slight crackling sound, as if it had come to life, curling up and shrinking inward a little bit.

Because he was wearing a gas mask, Wu Xiaoxie couldn't smell the distinctive burnt smell of roasted proteins.

He squinted and peered carefully through the gaps in the hair at the pottery jars. He noticed that the patterns on them looked familiar, and after a moment's thought, he remembered, "I've seen these jars before, and there are more of them than here."

Hearing this, Xie Yuchen looked over and asked, "Where have we met before?"

Wu Xiaoxie said, "The first time I saw this kind of jar was when I went to the Snake Swamp. In the Devil City in the Tamutuo Desert, we found the wreckage of a shipwreck. The cabin was full of these jars, which contained many human heads. They were specifically used to cultivate the Corpse Beetle King and then offer them to the Queen Mother of the West as sacrifices."

"The second time we met, we had already entered the Queen Mother's underground palace. Under the altar near the underground river close to the throne, there were mountains of pottery jars. We didn't dare to open them and just went around them."

Xie Yuchen clicked his tongue lightly, "This is troublesome."

He then turned to look at the ancient corpse in iron armor standing at the cave entrance behind him and said, "So, that iron armor might have been a protective suit to protect against the insects you mentioned, as well as these hairs with unknown attack methods. It might have been worn by the craftsmen when they placed these pottery jars."

Wu Xiaoxie nodded, and when he shone his headlamp, he saw countless fragments of the red corpse beetle king's shell mixed in with the hair on the open ground in front of him.

Xie Yuchen looked around, then, as if noticing something, pointed the lamp in his hand at the cave walls on both sides, "Look there."

Looking over, Wu Xiaoxie discovered that beneath the hair covering the cave walls were many pits of varying depths.

Some of the dents were empty, and it looked like the contents had been taken away. Wu Xiaoxie thought that the most crucial silk manuscripts translated by Jin Wantang must have come from here.

Some were filled with things, mostly bamboo slips, and there were a lot of them, like the library caves in ancient temples.

Further on, their lights couldn't reach the area beyond that point.

"How do you think they got in back then?" Wu Xiaoxie asked, frowning. "They couldn't have been stepping on these jars."

However, it doesn't look like it. The material of this pottery jar is very rough, and it will inevitably become brittle after being left for a long time. When Aning's men were carrying it out of the shipwreck, they accidentally broke it, which is why the Corpse Beetle King was released.

If so many people were to step over them, these jars would never be intact.

Xie Yuchen strapped the miner's lamp to his arm, loosened his joints, and smiled at Wu Xiaoxie, "For them, getting in from here is as easy as it gets."

Wu Xiaoxie noticed his slightly mocking smile and didn't immediately understand what he meant.

Then I saw Yu Chen pull out two arm-length sticks from his backpack, connect them, and then take off his gloves.

Before Wu Xiaoxie could react, he suddenly gripped the extended stick with both hands and pushed off the open ground in front of him, using the momentum to leap into the air. He flipped over like a juggler in the narrow space and suddenly appeared diagonally above Wu Xiaoxie's head.

Then, to Wu Xiaoxie's astonishment, he turned sideways while upside down in mid-air, stretched out his long legs, and stepped into a dent in the cave wall.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The stick he had been supporting on the ground had been pulled back and placed against the indentation under his feet. Just before he lost his balance, the entire stick bent into an arch, and Xie Yuchen was bounced up again, flying lightly to the other side of the cave wall.

Then he repeated the same movements over and over. In a very short time, Xie Yuchen flew dozens of meters away with the magic stick, like a sprite leaping among the flowers. His movements were light and graceful, flowing smoothly and effortlessly.

Wu Xiaoxie's jaw dropped in astonishment. "Holy crap!"

That's absolutely insanely awesome!

Compared to the methods that people like Chen Pi Asi painstakingly figured out by groping their way through the mechanisms, this kind of miraculous trick is on a whole different level.

How exactly did he fly there?
Just as they were pondering this, a whistle came from the other side, echoing through the empty and deep cave.

Xie Yuchen waved his arm, which was strapped with a miner's lamp, outside, "I've arrived."

"How is it?" Wu Xiaoxie asked hurriedly.

"It was alright," Xie Yuchen said. "It wasn't as difficult as I thought; I got through it quite easily."

Wu Xiaoxie was furious, "Easy my ass! You've flown over there, but what about me?"

He lifted his foot and tentatively jumped in place, how embarrassing, he couldn't even do the first move.

A soft laugh came from the other end. "Stay there and don't move. I'll go inside and check the situation first, and then I'll figure out a way to get you over here."

Wu Xiaoxie had no choice but to suppress his anxiety.

A few seconds later, Xie Yuchen's voice came from the other end again, "I saw something, it's a bit strange."

"What is it?" Wu Xiaoxie asked quickly.

There was a long silence before Xie Yuchen said, "I don't know, I can't say."

Then came a dull metallic knocking sound.

Wu Xiaoxie's curiosity had been piqued, but then there was silence on the other end.

After a long silence, Wu Xiaoxie was so anxious he was practically scratching his head. He shouted into the room, "What is that thing? Describe it!"

"A huge iron plate, very large, shaped somewhat like a bowl, with many strange patterns on it." Xie Yuchen suddenly hissed, his voice suddenly becoming soft, "My God, this thing is moving, it's spinning by itself!"

"What?" Wu Xiaoxie didn't understand what he meant. What was spinning? That iron plate?
According to Xie Yuchen's description, he tried to imagine it in his mind, but couldn't figure out what it was for a while. He became more and more anxious. "Don't worry about that for now. First, figure out a way to get me over there."

"Wait, something's not right. Don't make any rash moves," Xie Yuchen said quickly, then fell silent again. Wu Xiaoxie was getting impatient and wanted to curse, "What happened?"

However, this time they did not receive a reply from Xie Yuchen.

Wu Xiaoxie spun around a few times and called out a few more times, but Xie Yuchen still didn't answer. Instead, a metallic clanging sound came from the other side, amplified by the echo, swirling into people's ears and becoming quite irritating.

"Damn it!" Wu Xiaoxie cursed under his breath and yelled into the room, "If you don't say anything, I'm going to find my own way over."

The knocking sounds over there grew louder and louder, clanging and banging, sounding like someone was using a lot of force to destroy something.

Wu Xiaoxie almost wanted to roll his eyes in despair, but then he thought again, wait a minute, they're all adults, how could they be so stupid as to lose their temper in such a dangerous situation? Could it be that something happened to Xie Yuchen that made him unable to speak, and that the banging on the metal was his way of calling for help?

Thinking of this, Wu Xiaoxie hurriedly shouted inside, "Xiaohua, is something wrong?"

After the shout, the knocking stopped for a few seconds, then there were two more knocks, as if in response to Wu Xiaoxie's question.

Holy crap, this is amazing!

He then called out to Xie Yuchen, "Xiao Hua, I'm going to ask you a question. If you answer yes, knock once; if you don't, knock twice, okay?"

"Bang-"

There was a knock over there.

OK, Xiaohua said yes.

Wu Xiaoxie thought for a moment and continued, "Are you unable to speak right now?"

Xie Yuchen knocked once.

"Is it related to that big iron plate you mentioned before?" Wu Xiaoxie asked again.

After asking the question, I immediately tilted my ear to listen carefully, but only one sound came from the other end.

Wu Xiaoxie pondered for a few seconds, then turned and ran out of the cave.

It's already dark outside.

He grabbed the walkie-talkie and woke up the guys who were already asleep downstairs. He explained the situation, and the guys immediately wanted to come up and help.

After putting down the walkie-talkie, Wu Xiaoxie realized something was wrong. It had taken more than four hours to climb up from down there. Wouldn't Xiaohua have been waiting inside for ages?

He then turned and ran back into the cave, shouting towards Xie Yuchen, "Xiao Hua, I just notified the people down below, they're coming up soon. Is it safe where you are now?"

One sound came from the pitch-black cave, then two...

Wu Xiaoxie's heart skipped a beat, and then he heard the third knock.

"What's going on?" Wu Xiaoxie wondered, was this safe or not?

Just as I was about to ask for more details, three beeps sounded in quick succession, followed by three more.

Wu Xiaoxie was speechless. Was she addicted to keeping the beat, or was Xiaohua unsure of the situation over there, or was Xiaohua calling him over?

Does the third tone mean "come here quickly"?
Thinking of this, Wu Xiaoxie understood. "Wait here, I'll come find you right away."

Looking at the rows of pottery jars in front of him, Wu Xiaoxie gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and thought to himself, "Damn it, after all this trouble, I still have to rely on myself. I'll give it my all!"
Xie Yuchen, who was nestled deep in the cave, had just finished treating the wound on his shoulder and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when he heard Wu Xiaoxie say that he wanted to come in, which almost made him furious.

He quickly tapped the iron plate three times with a stick, shouting, "Don't come in!!"

He immediately realized something was wrong after knocking. Damn it, he was so angry he lost his temper. He knocked twice more, shouting, "Don't come any closer!"

"Here it comes, don't rush me!"

Wu Xiaoxie was clinging to the recesses on the cave wall where ancient books and bamboo slips were placed, his whole body like a gecko climbing a wall, hunched over and carefully moving forward.

He secretly rejoiced that Mu Yu had thought things through and prepared the Old Man's Blood in advance. He had already tried it before, and when the hair came into contact with the Old Man's Blood, it would immediately curl up and hide like a mouse seeing a cat.

Apply some to your gloves and clothes, and as long as you are careful when climbing and don't touch the earthenware pots below, you should be able to get through smoothly.

The distance between these pits wasn't small, but it wasn't large either; it was about a meter apart by sight. Wu Xiaoxie tried a few steps and found that as long as he took bigger steps, he could barely get across.

However, after climbing more than ten meters, he realized that he had indeed been naive.

No matter how well you plan ahead, physical strength is still a major weakness.

In addition, the space was too cramped, and he could only exert force with his fingertips and toes. He felt his arms getting sore from exhaustion and began to tremble slightly.

After climbing another seven or eight meters with gritted teeth, Wu Xiaoxie felt he couldn't go on any longer. Unable to reach the pit ahead, he had no choice but to use one hand to grip the edge of a depression above, while using the other hand to dig a hole in the cave wall with all his might.

He pried off a small piece of rock, tucked the dagger back into his waistband, and quickly grabbed the edge of the small pit he had dug, finally catching his breath.

If he doesn't rest soon, his hands and feet will cramp up.

As he slowed down, he caught a glimpse of the hairy things below, and the closer look made him even more horrified.

Wu Xiaoxie has a deeper nightmare about hair than others.

He tried his best to convince himself that the lumps of round things beneath him were just mushrooms, a type of mushroom that grows black mycelium.

Thinking about it this way, the creepy feeling in my heart actually lessened a bit.

Wu Xiaoxie tried his best not to look at the ghostly thing below, and then, doing the same thing, he slowly moved more than twenty meters further in.

The knocking sounds inside had stopped for a long time, and he wasn't sure what the situation was, so he could only try his best to speed things up.

After resting, he wanted to continue climbing, but in the instant he turned his head, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Less than two meters in front of him, something seemed to have just blocked the light of his miner's lamp.

He immediately turned his head to look again, and upon seeing it, his scalp tingled.

Holy crap, it's hair!
A hairy monster as tall as a person was standing in front of him at some point!

Thank you to the generous donors: [lu同志], [大理陈], [左左路人甲], [秋露白v], and others!
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(End of this chapter)