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

Chapter 352 Tezuka of the Zhang Family
The stone path outside the cave was filled with members of the Huo family lying haphazardly.

As Zhang Wuxun walked over, a member of the Huo family wearing a gas mask, whose face was obscured, grabbed his trouser leg. "Help...help the patriarch..."

He spoke with great difficulty, desperately trying to control his breathing. The protective suit he was wearing had long since expired, and his hand holding Zhang Wuxun was trembling.

Zhang Wuxun looked closely before recognizing the person as Huo Chushi.

He took an oxygen bottle out of his backpack and handed it to him so he could save himself. Zhang Wuxun then got up to look at the others behind him.

Huo Xiangu had completely lost consciousness. Even though Huo Chushi put his last protective suit on her, the old and frail Huo Xiangu could not withstand the corrosive effects of the poisonous gas, and even the surface of her skin began to bleed.

When Zhang Wuxun revived her, Huo Xiangu suddenly grabbed Zhang Wuxun's shirt from who knows where, and struggled to make a few "hoarse" sounds, but could not speak. In the end, she even spat out a mouthful of dark blood mist, her turbid eyes staring straight at him with a hint of pleading in them.

"Don't worry, you won't die for now." Zhang Wuxun put an oxygen suit on her and handed her over to Huo Chushi, who had recovered from the poison.

The fat man leaned against the innermost part of the stone path, his eyes half-open and hazy. When he saw Zhang Wu coming over, he immediately grabbed him, anxiously trying to say something.

Zhang Wuxun made a shushing gesture, gave him a reassuring look, whispered a few words in his ear, and then, to his disbelief, placed his hand on his neck.

A dozen seconds later, the fat man passed out completely, filled with questions.

There was no poisonous gas spreading from the cave for the time being, so Zhang Wuxun quickly took off his old protective suit, took out three more durable new protective suits from his backpack and put them on him, put a gas mask on him, and placed two backpacks next to him. The backpacks were filled with food, first aid equipment, and a mechanical box containing a map. Finally, he covered him with a thin blanket.

The young man watched them silently from behind.

Zhang Wuxun looked back and saw that the Huo family members had already helped each other to their feet, so he also stood up. Everyone remained silent.

"We've found the exit, let's go," Zhang Wuxun said calmly.

Huo Xiaoli looked left and right, and said softly, "Two people are missing. Brother Lanqiao and Brother Jinqiu are not here. It seems that they went into the cave ahead to look for you before the poison gas spread."

These two were members of the Huo family that Fatty brought in later. Fatty brought in a total of four members of the Huo family. Three of them were suspects of Zhang Wuxun. The one who died in the quicksand was probably Huo Lanqiao. Huo Jinqiu's disappearance made Zhang Wuxun a little worried, after all, he was a bomb.

But before she could finish speaking, Huo Xiuxiu said, "Huo Jinqiu is dead. He fell into the pool in the cave and drowned."

These words seemed to be spoken specifically to Zhang Wuxun and Xiao Ge.

It seems that some kind of conflict did occur outside, and this fake Huo Xiuxiu killed the person directly.

Zhang Wuxun glanced at Huo Xiaoli and the last remaining suspect. This person was a girl, named Huo Xiaoyao or Huo Xiao something, he couldn't remember her name. The reason for the suspicion was that this person was Huo Jinqiu's sister.

Her brother was gone, but she wasn't worried at all; her attitude was completely indifferent.

However, Zhang Wuxun wasn't in a hurry; he was going to die anyway.

Zhang Wuxun and the young man walked into the cave first. Huo Xiaoli turned her head and looked at the fat man who was sleeping soundly. "Aren't you going to take care of Fatty?"

“You seem to talk a lot.” Zhang Wuxun turned his head and stared at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Huo Xiaoli subconsciously shrank her neck, and remained silent for a long time.

Zhang Wuxun spoke again, coldly saying, "If you want to enter the Zhang Family Ancient Building and leave from here, you'd better keep your mouth shut, or don't blame me for sewing you up with needle and thread."

Everyone fell silent, quickly packed their gear, and followed the young man into the cave one by one.

Zhang Wuxun walked at the back to prevent anyone from harming the unconscious fat man.

After entering the crevice, they followed the lava path they had come out of earlier, but only Zhang Wuxun and Xiao Ge knew that they were not taking the same path as before.

Because the previous path was flat, but the path they were now taking with Huo Xiangu and the others was a downhill slope. In other words, the path that led out of the main hall had been blocked off by a mechanism, and they were now below that path.

This road is very long, longer than anyone could imagine.

Having suffered heavy losses previously, they had to stop and rest for a while.

"Where are we going?" Huo Xiuxiu asked on behalf of her grandmother.

“The annex of the Zhang Family Ancient Building,” Zhang Wuxun said. “We are currently in the annex of the ancient building. From here, go down to a suitable location, pass through the annex, and take the shortcut to reach the annex.”

The auxiliary buildings were built to assist the main building. They are distributed around the main building and were structurally connected to it during construction. The Zhang Family Ancient Building complex has a semi-enclosed structure. Like the ancient building that was originally at the bottom of the lake, it has only one proper entrance, while other places are equipped with mechanisms.

However, the Zhang family also set up a reminder and tolerance mechanism for their descendants with poor memory, since this area is already within the boundaries of the Zhang family's ancient building and Miluotuo does not exist here.

Therefore, Zhang Wuxun and his companion planned to start from below, like groundhogs digging holes, climbing up layer by layer through the mechanisms and pipes connecting the floors. Only after truly entering the auxiliary building could they descend from the top of the ancient building.

After a short rest, the group continued on their way.

After descending to an unknown depth, the young man in front finally stopped and glanced back at Zhang Wuxun, who was falling at the very back.

"We're here?" Zhang Wuxun squeezed past the Huo family members and came to Xiao Ge's side.

Looking around, the space was vast, as if they were enveloped by a giant Buddhist bell. Beneath their feet was a platform about two meters wide, and eight similar platforms existed within the bell's perimeter. These stone platforms hung precariously on the cliff face, the bottomless darkness below unseen. Zhang Wuxun felt a strange sense of dread; he had no idea what lay below. That terrible dream still lingered in his heart like a thorn.

Huo Chushi pulled out a signal gun and fired it, illuminating the entire bell-shaped space as bright as day.

Almost everyone gasped as they saw many thick chains extending from two stone pillars with animal heads as thick as water vats standing beside them, connecting like an iron chain bridge to a spiral staircase suspended in the center.

Upon closer inspection, the spiral staircase was actually constructed entirely of chains extending from the stone platform. These thick iron chains had all undergone anti-corrosion treatment, and even after many years, they still gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen, and the icy aura of raw iron sent chills down one's spine.

The structure here is created by hollowing out the middle of a mountain, resembling an inverted ice cream cone. The dome above is decorated with a stone carving and painted nine-petaled lotus mural, giving it a very sacred and solemn appearance.

The signal flare quickly went out. Huo Chushi wanted to fire another one, but Zhang Wuxun stopped him, saying, "No need to look anymore. The only way is to climb over the chains. There's no shortcut."

Everyone immediately sprang into action, pulling out safety ropes and tying them around their waists to prevent themselves from losing strength and falling halfway down the road.

As usual, Zhang Wuxun and his companion led the way.

However, this time the young man stopped Zhang Wuxun and gestured for him to go first. Then he leaped and stood on one of the chains, ignoring the chain's trembling caused by the pressure. He then walked directly towards the central steps at a moderate pace, without any thought or hesitation.

The Zhang family children all practiced this skill of walking on suspended chains. However, when they were young, they did not walk on these thick chains, but on steel wires that could support their weight to the maximum extent. When they encountered a very difficult and uncertain coffin, they would use this method to suspend themselves in the air and directly approach the coffin from above.

This method requires both waist and stance coordination and also tests a person's flexibility. It is actually somewhat similar to the methods of traditional tomb raiders, except that what makes Zhang's child more impressive is that he can use two fingers to take out anything he wants from inside, or kill any dangerous creature inside with a single blow.

Under the terrified gaze of the Huo family, the young man quickly arrived at the location, made a gesture to Zhang Wuxun with his backhand, and then climbed up the chain staircase.

Zhang Wuxun also stepped onto the iron chain. With his balance and core control ability, he walked on it steadily, almost no different from walking on flat ground. The chain would only bend with each step, but the actual swaying was very slight.

After he passed, to his surprise, the third person to walk was Huo Xiangu. Although she had a safety rope around her waist, this suspended path was not very difficult for her. After all, Huo Xiangu used to sleep hanging on thin ropes when she was young.

The women of the Huo family practice a very special kind of flexibility from a young age, which allows them to move their joints much beyond their normal range of motion. As a result, the women of the Huo family are very flexible, like snakes with soft bones. This skill is very different from bone shrinking. Bone shrinking involves disassembling and reassembling, while this flexibility skill directly twists the bones and muscles away from their original positions, which is also very impressive.

In contrast, the rest of the Huo family members, including the fake Huo Xiuxiu, had to crawl across the chains like cockroaches, using both their hands and feet.

As you spiral up the chain staircase and get a closer look, you'll discover that there are some unusual patterns on the nine-petaled lotus. These patterns are actually human faces squeezed together, without any joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, just expressionless, all looking up at each other.

The gazes of these faces converged on the very center of the lotus, directly above the staircase, where the dome, like an eggshell, enveloped the petals and faces.

The dizziness from being at a high place can make people mistakenly believe that the flowery faces are gradually moving towards the center, and staring at them for a long time can actually make them feel even more dizzy.

The young man stood on the top step, reached out and grabbed the nine-eyed lotus root in the very center, twisted his arm, and made the thing he was carrying spin around.

The clicking sound of the machine coming from above.

A moment later, the nine-petaled lotus flower split into nine fan-shaped leaves, which shrank towards the edge, revealing a round hole slightly larger than a basketball.

Without hesitation, the young man grabbed the edge and squeezed through.

The rest of the people followed Zhang Wuxun out in single file and came to the mezzanine above.

The interlayer is made of volcanic rock, which can prevent Miluotuo from entering.

Many semi-circular niches were carved into the walls of the mezzanine, arranged in a staggered manner. Among them, almost all the niches on three walls contained long, box-shaped stone coffins, one after another from top to bottom.

Zhang Wuxun recognized this thing; it was a tombstone of the Zhang family. He had seen this kind of stone box before when he was holding a funeral for the Zhang family members who had sacrificed their lives in the ancestral hall behind his house.

The ancestral hall was built against the mountain. Normally, these mounds were placed inside the mountain. At that time, a mound was built for the funeral of a person who was shot and killed while handling an emergency. The oldest member of the Zhang family came out to send him into the group of mounds. The most senior members were the ones who sent him into the group of mounds. Other people who were on missions were not recalled, but those who were at home at that time, regardless of age, had to stay in the main hall of the ancestral hall.

Perhaps because they couldn't find any trace of the Zhang family patriarch, the overseas Zhang family temporarily established a resettlement point for their souls to return to their homeland.

Those who could be placed here must be from a few less important branches of the Zhang family, and not accumulated over many years. Such a large-scale Tezuka can only mean that a war between some superpowers took place at that time, which resulted in the deaths of many Zhang family members who were handling the matter.

Upon arriving here, the young man's expression also became solemn and dignified.

Having witnessed enough supernatural events along the way, the Huo family was afraid that there might be some terrible mechanism behind the tezuka here, so they dared not touch it at all. Before seeing the most valuable coffin, they had to put away their courage and head straight for the fourth wall.

There was a tomb door over there, more than three meters high. Several members of the Huo family tried to push it, but found that the tomb door was extremely heavy and difficult to move with their strength.

Zhang Wuxun looked at the iron ring above the tomb door and strongly suspected that the Huo family members used to find the approximate location of the main burial chamber from the top of the tomb using special methods, then drilled a hole large enough from above and used their martial arts skills to hang in and crawl in. No wonder the women in the Huo family generally had a higher status than the men, after all, they were better at martial arts.

These men went into the tomb purely to get a share of the loot and be bystanders. They'd probably only be useful if they couldn't find the main tomb chamber. No wonder Huo Xiuxiu said that although the men of the Huo family were among the best-looking, they were always a bit clueless.

"Useless trash," Zhang Wuxun muttered, pushing aside the Huo family members who were pressed against the door, their ears and necks red from holding their breath.

Although the Huo family members were unconvinced, they dared not refute it.

"Come here." Zhang Wuxun estimated the height, turned around and casually pointed to one of the Huo family members, "It's you, stop dawdling and come over here quickly."

Goodnight, Makka Pakka~
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(End of this chapter)