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

Chapter 390 Ancestral Master Soup
This powder looks very similar to the soot that accumulates after burning charcoal and firewood for a long time in the fire bucket of a northern stove.

"What the hell is this?" Zhang Wuxun complained. "Did the Ma family install the chimney outlet down here or what? Why is so much coal ash suddenly coming out?"

The young man squatted down, pinched a small amount of black ash, rubbed it between his fingertips, and then held it out to Zhang Wuxun for him to see.

Upon closer inspection, Zhang Wu discovered that after rubbing the black powder apart, there was a small amount of silvery-gray fluorescent powder inside.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "It's not coal ash, it looks more like the residue of something that has decomposed."

"It looks a bit like a kind of ghost moth I used to see in the jungles around Hainan. After you roast it to death, its body turns into a black powder. It looks a lot like this."

However, the ghost moth usually lives in low to medium altitude areas. The average altitude in Nepal is 4,800 meters. This moth prefers dark and damp mountain corners, so how could it appear in such a cold and windy cold mountain?
It's unlikely that these moths crawled in on their own, because the well is very well sealed. The guy had checked it beforehand, and there's only one entrance and exit. Besides, the climate here is not suitable for the survival of the ghost moths at all.

Then there's only one possibility: someone deliberately raised these moths down there. To find out the reason, we'll have to go down and take a closer look.

Zhang Wuxun lit a few glow sticks and threw them down, revealing a staircase covered in black dust extending downwards.

The inner wall of the cave entrance was covered with many fist-sized black bumps, densely packed together like malignant tumors, stretching into the depths of darkness, making one's skin crawl.

Zhang Wuxun reached out and scraped one off with his knife. He held it in his hand and examined it. This black, round lump felt very brittle, like a dry leaf, and it would crumble at the slightest touch.

He threw the black lump on the ground, and a smaller thing fell out of it, which looked like a cocoon wrapped in brownish-yellow silk, about the size of a goose egg.

He removed a few more black lumps, and when he opened them, he found that they were all cocoons inside, some big and some small, and some even had several small clusters inside, like twins.

Zhang Wuxun tore open a cocoon and looked inside. Inside was a round, soft, brownish-black pupa about the thickness of a finger, with many fine white hairs on its surface.

He immediately clicked his tongue in disgust, "This really is a moth, all spun into a cocoon, but the thing inside is still alive, it seems to be hibernating down here."

That black dust must be the ashes of moths that have multiplied here for countless generations, rotting and turning into dust after they died, and their molted pupae have also oxidized into residue.

Zhang Wuxun tilted his head towards the black hole below and said, "Brother, let's go down and take a look, and bring that guy along too."

The young man nodded, leaped lightly onto the steps, and led the way with a lantern.

Zhang Wuxun told him to wait a moment, and then set up several small trap bombs around the small well.

These small mechanical bombs were unique to the Zhang family. Their function was essentially the same as a bell, mainly to warn people by sound. The sound waves emitted by the explosion could travel a long distance underground. With the Zhang family's hearing, they could definitely hear it as long as it was within five kilometers.

The bomb itself wasn't very powerful, but Zhang Wuxun modified it by adding a lethal mechanism inside. Once it exploded, hundreds of tiny needles coated with medicine would pop out, instantly killing anyone within a five-meter radius.

The only downside is that it's a one-time use item, and when it explodes, it doesn't distinguish between friend and foe; in short, "everyone dies."

After setting up the traps, Zhang Wuxun grabbed the still unconscious Ma Chongshan, who was tied up, and jumped into the cave. He then gestured with his chin to Xiao Ge and said, "Let's go."

The passage ahead continued downwards and was very deep. After walking about ten meters, we encountered the first turn.

The further down you go, the more black, lumpy cocoons stick to the top of the stone brick passage. In some places, they even hang down for half a meter, one on top of another, sticking together to form irregular columns.

There are also many broken shells on the steps, which make a rustling sound when you step on them, like hypnotic white noise.

As Zhang Wuxun walked, he observed the moth cocoons. Once, when he was on a covert mission in the damp jungle of the mountains, the hiding place he chose was near a moth nest.

This makes it easier to issue warnings. Once a large wild animal or human passes by, it will startle the ghost moths that are resting during the day. When their wings vibrate, they make a sound similar to the flapping of bees' wings, so the adults often attack the hive at night to steal honey.

The larvae of the devil moth are insects with a slightly yellowish appearance and a refreshing color.

But the cocoons they were seeing were different from the ghost moths that Zhang Wuxun knew. Ghost moth larvae burrow into the soil to spin cocoons and pupate as winter approaches, but their cocoons are not covered by a large black shell.

Zhang Wuxun shared his analysis with the young man, and then carefully picked off a few black lumps spaced a meter apart for comparison. "Young man, look, these cocoon shells are not uniformly round, and their weight is uneven. The cocoons inside seem to be tilting in a fixed direction."

This thing is definitely not a gecko moth; it's more like a special mutant species. Their larvae may grow deeper underground, and before the cold winter arrives, they will climb to the top of the rock wall to spin a cocoon.

The cocoon is tilting towards the middle of the spiral staircase, so there must be a huge queen ant underneath, like the queen ant in the ant kingdom.

The deeper you go, the bigger these cocoons become. Zhang Wuxun thought to himself, "Wow, the last moth to hatch would be bigger than a basketball if it flapped its wings!"
Is that still a moth? It's so big, it looks like a little eagle.

He looked at the young man with some uncertainty, "These things shouldn't have been brought out from under the ancient city of Sizhou, right?"

The young man frowned slightly and shook his head, saying, "No."

That's good. Zhang Wuxun breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it's not related to the Zhang family, how strange can it be?

Just then, Zhang Wuxun noticed that Ma Chongshan, whom he had casually placed aside while picking the cocoons, had moved slightly, seemingly showing signs of waking up. Zhang Wuxun was about to knock him unconscious again when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

On Ma Chongshan's exposed face and hands, the skin began to peel off in large patches, resembling yellowish-brown mold spots, falling off like leaves in the wind.

Zhang Wuxun was a little confused. What was going on? Did this guy have a skin condition? And was it having an intermittent flare-up right now?

That doesn't make sense. Who has a skin disease that causes such severe skin peeling, to the point where the flesh is almost gone? Even the most severe ichthyosis wouldn't cause this much damage.

Ma Chongshan's eyes were tightly closed, and his whole body seemed to be unbearably itchy. Because he was still bound by ropes, he could only writhe on the ground, causing even more skin to peel off, especially on his arms, which looked like a large jar of moldy, spoiled oatmeal had been sprinkled on them. "No, no, this can't be a skin disease." Zhang Wuxun frowned, then his expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly rolled up his sleeve to check. "Damn it, the black dust in here is poisonous."

However, upon closer inspection, they found nothing unusual on their arms. The young man had also rolled up his sleeves, and they were just as clean.

That's strange. Does the venom of this moth discriminate between different people?
Ma Chongshan was still wriggling on the ground like a worm, sniffing the air as he did so, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, and he was wriggling in the direction of the stairs downwards.

Zhang Wuxun and the other man exchanged a glance and decided to follow him further down the path.

After turning several more corners, the black cocoons here were already larger than a basketball, hanging there heavily, their surfaces covered with irregular little bumps, making people feel very uncomfortable.

The passage below became increasingly narrow, its inner walls completely covered by those black lumps, which crowded together in a jumble.

Zhang Wuxun and Xiao Ge could only carefully navigate between the hanging, bumpy pillars. Fortunately, the surface of these cocoons was dry; if they were covered in sticky mucus, they would be disgusted to death.

On the contrary, Ma Chongshan, who looked like an insect, twisted very quickly along the ground. Although his posture was strange, his movements were very smooth, as if he had crawled through this passage many times before.

The creeping Ma Chongshan finally stopped at the end of the steps, where there was an iron gate. The mural on the gate was very blurry, with various messy colors that looked like a child's scribbles. At first glance, it looked like a big, grayish moth.

But upon closer inspection, it was discovered that there were hundreds of huge, grotesque skull faces, densely packed together, crowding and cramming the iron gate, enough to trigger trypophobia in anyone who looked at them.

Staring at those mixed spots for too long can cause dizziness and make your eyes feel sleepy.

Ma Chongshan climbed to the iron gate, sniffing the ground with his nose, his breath puffing out, and he inhaled the insect dust on the ground onto his face.

Zhang Wuxun and the other man stopped and looked at each other. Just as they were about to move Ma Chongshan away to open the door, Ma Chongshan, who was still close to the ground, suddenly sprang up and started banging his head against the door.

The impact was devastating, leaving no room for retreat. Ma Chongshan's head quickly cracked open, and blood flowed out. As if stimulated by the blood, Ma Chongshan banged his head even harder.

Zhang Wuxun was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, trying to pull him away. But just as he took two steps closer, the surface of the iron door suddenly moved.

With a rustling sound, all the ghost faces on the iron gate began to change shape, as if they were awakening from hibernation. Various distorted black ghost faces, filled with terror, resentment, laughter, and cursing, suddenly exploded, as if countless evil spirits carrying a hazy resentment were surging towards Zhang Wuxun.

"Damn it, run, buddy!"

Zhang Wuxun's expression changed drastically. He grabbed one of Ma Chongshan's legs and dragged him back the way they came.

He and his friend didn't care about anything else and just ran with their heads down, smashing the cocoons along the way to pieces.

Countless buzzing sounds of wings swept towards the two of them, and the air in the narrow passage seemed to be completely sucked away in that instant.

They seemed to have stepped into hell, running through the underworld overrun by evil spirits. All sorts of chaotic and sharp noises were like the wailing of vengeful ghosts, and the covers of the lanterns in their hands were shattered by the sound.

In a gray and dark vision, Zhang Wuxun kept running forward up the steps. He felt that what he was dragging in his hands was getting heavier and heavier, as if something was pulling Ma Chongshan from behind.

Zhang Wuxun drew the hunting knife hanging at his waist and slashed backward, but the blade sank into something soft, sticky, like putty. Several hairy things crawled up his arm from the knife.

However, before Zhang Wuxun could withdraw his hand, the chilling sensation suddenly receded like a tide.

Zhang Wuxun felt a dull ache on the back of his hand. He withdrew his hand and looked closely. There were two rows of fine cuts on his left hand that was holding the knife. Each cut was about the size of a chopstick tip. The bite marks were very fine, and a piece of flesh had almost been cut off.

The blood flowing from the wound has begun to congeal, but fortunately the blood color is normal, so even if it is poisonous, the toxicity should not be strong.

His ears went blank for a moment, all the noise disappeared, and Ma Chongshan, whom he was holding with his other hand, also vanished.

The pitch-black passage before them seemed to have transformed into the gaping maw of some evil beast, silently waiting for its prey to walk right into its trap.

Zhang Wuxun hurriedly looked around. Damn it, where's Xiao Ge? Where did Xiao Ge go? Wasn't he just running ahead of him a moment ago?
Suddenly recalling that when he was entangled by something, a shadow seemed to have flashed past him, Zhang Wuxun immediately turned and ran towards the iron gate.

The guy must have discovered something, because he chased after that soft, limp thing and ran back.

When Zhang Wuxun arrived, the iron gate was wide open, and all the skulls that had been lying on the gate were gone.

The passageway inside was pitch black. Zhang Wuxun gripped his hunting knife close to his elbow, focusing intently as he stepped inside.

The passage wasn't long. Instead of the huge black cocoons hanging on the walls, countless pale yellow hairs appeared, as if we had entered a spider demon's spiderweb cave. Oh no, this should be the cave of a moth with a ghost head on its back.

The entire passage was covered from top to bottom with fine hairs, like fluffy cotton that had been patted down. It felt very soft to the touch. There was a gap in the middle, and Zhang Wuxun saw the broken lantern left by Xiao Ge in the corner.

Pushing aside the fine threads with one hand, Zhang Wuxun bent over and crawled into the hole. He felt that he had already walked dozens of meters away, but the fine threads in front of him seemed to be endless.

A strange, slightly fishy, ​​and astringent smell filled my nostrils, and it seemed vaguely familiar.

It's very similar to what Fatty came up with for Zhang Wuxun and Xiao Ge when he was bored out of his mind.

A soup made by mixing pig's blood, sheep's blood, and protein powder together, adding some herbs, and then simmering it in a stone pot for 24 hours—"soup that will send you to meet your ancestral master in no time."

I'll post the pictures tonight to show everyone.
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(End of this chapter)