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

Chapter 394 Fox Mask
Ma Chongshan wasn't overly concerned about the deaths of those people. He tried moving his arms and legs, but found that they were still the same.

He felt as if his bones and muscles had been removed, leaving him weak, powerless, and unable to move, which puzzled him.

He asked Ma Chongfeng, "What's wrong with my body? Why can't I move yet?"

Ma Chongfeng hesitated for a moment, then, urged by his elder brother, he stammered for a long time before finally vaguely saying that he had suffered some injuries and could not move for the time being.

Ma Chongshan noticed something was wrong from his expression and pressed him again, "Tell me the truth, is there something wrong with my body? Why can't I feel my limbs at all?"

Ma Chongfeng managed a weak smile and comforted him, "Brother, don't worry, it's just poisoning. Once we get out of here, we'll go to America to treat you. You'll definitely be cured."

"Bullshit!" Ma Chongshan saw through his lie at a glance and became increasingly uneasy. He struggled to get up, but a sudden, intense pain shot through his limbs and bones, spreading rapidly throughout his body like a tsunami. His head ached as if countless bees were burrowing into his skull and gnawing at his bones.

"Brother? Brother, how are you? Don't scare me!" This time the attack was more serious than the first time. Ma Chongfeng was so frightened that he lost his composure and ran out of the tent to call for help.

"Where is Lord Rangora? Where did Lord Rangora go? My brother has fallen ill again!" Ma Chongfeng grabbed one of the people guarding outside the tent and asked anxiously.

The Tibetan guard lifted the curtain and glanced inside, exchanged a few words with the tribesmen beside him, then pushed Ma Chongfeng back into the tent, pointing at him and warning him sternly not to wander off.

Ma Chongfeng was extremely anxious. He grabbed the guard and spoke all the Tibetan he knew, explaining the situation with gestures and gesticulation, but no one paid any attention to him.

Just as Ma Chongshan, lying on the felt, began to vomit black blood again, Ma Chongfeng was about to despair when he heard the sound of bells on the waist of the Tibetan man in blue robes.

The voice seemed to possess a strange magic, unhurried and calm, like a stroll in the snow. Miraculously, Ma Chongfeng's buzzing mind was soothed, and all the chaotic anger and panic seemed to be carried away to the clouds by the gentle breeze.

Ma Chongshan, who had been convulsing and vomiting blood, stopped convulsing, tilted his head to the side, and fell into a deep sleep.

The Tibetan man in blue robes came in and only stood by Ma Chongshan's bedside for a few glances before solemnly saying to Ma Chongfeng, "Your brother has been targeted by Yama. His greed is too strong, and Yama hates him very much. He has left a curse mark on him, and he will soon be taken away by Yama."

Ma Chongfeng was completely dumbfounded. Before he could ask any further questions, the blue-robed Tibetan had already given him the order to leave: "You must leave Kangbaluo before the Dawa God rises in the east tomorrow, otherwise my tribe will also be tainted by an aura that Yama hates, and then something terrible will happen."

Ma Chongfeng didn't know what the "terrible thing" specifically referred to, but he could tell from the expressions of these people that if he and his brother didn't leave soon, they would probably hack them to death and then respectfully offer them to the so-called King of Hell.

The Dawa God mentioned by the people in the blue robe is the Tibetan moon god.

Ma Chongfeng dared not doubt the truth of what Lord Lawa said. As the first rays of the morning sun touched the snow-covered hills, the Ma brothers were blindfolded and the Khampa people used a shortcut to send them out of the snow-covered mountains as quickly as possible.

To ensure that Ma Chongshan could leave the snow mountain alive, Lord Rengolawa specially hung an octagonal bronze bell the size of a thumb on his ear.

In the words of those ancient Tibetans, a person like Ma Chongshan, who uses a pure exterior to conceal greed and filth, is not worthy of having his soul remain on the snow-capped mountains.

As if it were all a dream, Ma Chongshan felt that he had only taken a nap and had returned from the snow-capped mountains to the foot of the mountain he had always longed for, carrying with him a terminal illness and a bronze bell that had a temporary effect on his terminal illness.

Later, Ma Chongshan learned that the terminal illness he was suffering from was an acute peripheral nerve disease. In the early stages, he only experienced weakness in his limbs, but in the later stages, he would become completely paralyzed.

Given the medical conditions at the time, he could only live for a year at most, or even less.

Because this disease progresses in stages, in the end, the pain he will suffer will be more than ten times what he is experiencing now. Even if he dies, it will not be from the disease itself, but from the excruciating pain.

The octagonal bronze bell could not slow the spread of the disease. Its effect was similar to hypnosis, only able to alleviate the pain to a certain extent. The body would still decay if it was meant to.

Just when Ma Chongshan was feeling disheartened and desperate, someone approached him.

His younger brother, Ma Chongfeng, was not present at the time, so he went to buy new horses, intending to hire someone to take his brother back to the Ma family in Nepal immediately.

After another attack of his illness, Ma Chongshan lay pale-faced on a pile of blood-stained felt, half-dead, staring at the hunting knife hanging by the tent, his eyes once again revealing a longing for death.

However, the harsh reality he faces tells him that he is now a useless person, unable to stand, unable to walk, and even unable to commit suicide with a knife.

Now he envied the horse handler and the Tibetan guide who died on the snow mountain. They died without knowing anything, without pain or feeling, which was better than him, who was just barely clinging to life.

After regaining consciousness, the thought of dying kept popping into his mind.

He couldn't bear the pitying, regretful, contemptuous, and mocking looks others gave him. He was the eldest son of the Ma family. If it weren't for this incident, he should have happily returned to the family and taken over the responsibility of revitalizing the family from his aging father.

He regretted it, he hated it; he regretted his past arrogance and ignorance, and he hated the injustice of fate.

Living is worse than dying. So this is what it means to live is worse than dying. For some people, living is truly more painful than dying.

The last glimmer of light in Ma Chongshan's eyes gradually faded away.

After an unknown amount of time, a dark shadow drifted into the pitch-black tent.

The shadow was quite slender and ridiculously tall. As soon as it approached, Ma Chongshan felt a chilling aura approaching him, and a faint stench of decay emanated from it.

Even though he had already prepared himself to die, Ma Chongshan's heart still couldn't help but pound wildly when faced with this unknown guy who had suddenly barged in.

He squinted, trying to make out what was standing in front of his bed by the little bit of light that peeked through the gap in the tent flap.

Is it a person? No, the shadowy figure is as thin as a piece of paper, and its height is ridiculously tall, like a long, thin pillar standing in front of him.

What would it be?
The King of Hell, as people in Kham say? Has it come looking for us?
"Will it kill me?" Ma Chongshan was extremely uneasy. He didn't know what this thing wanted to do to him. At worst, it would just take his life, and he would be glad if it did.

Ma Chongshan silently wondered to himself, "Why haven't they made a move yet? Do they want me to close my eyes willingly?"

Thinking this to himself, Ma Chongshan's fear gradually subsided. He peacefully closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and prepared to die. Suddenly, something cold and slippery pressed against his neck, as if, as if a snake pulled from ice water had crawled onto his neck.

Ma Chongshan couldn't help but shiver. The chill shot up from his heart to the top of his head. Just when he thought he was about to die, he heard a muffled voice, as if it were drifting towards him with the clouds and snowflakes.

Do you want to continue living?

What? Ma Chongshan was completely stunned. He suspected that he was terminally ill and had started to hallucinate.

"To want to, or not to want to?"

The second sentence was clearer than the first. Although it was still like a piece of sandpaper stuck in his throat, hoarse and sharp, it was definitely human speech, and it came from the dark figure in front of him.

Ma Chongshan's blood seemed to freeze, and he hurriedly asked, "What do you mean? Who are you? What did you mean by what you just said?"

The shadowy figure gave a cold laugh. "If you want to live, come find me in Buzaraon tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Chongshan felt a tightness around his neck and then lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, the tent was brightly lit, and my younger brother, Ma Chongfeng, had returned.

Out of consideration for his brother's feelings, Ma Chongfeng only mentioned that the person had been found and they could set off home tomorrow.

When he looked up, he saw Ma Chongshan staring at him without blinking, his dark pupils revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Ma Chongfeng was startled and asked hesitantly, "Brother? What's wrong?"

“I’m not leaving tomorrow.” Ma Chongshan turned his head back and stared straight at the pointed tent top above. “Go and ask around in a place called Buzalaon. There’s someone there who can save me.”

Ma Chongfeng agreed in a daze, and the next day he asked the local Tibetans about the place called "Buzhalaang".

Unexpectedly, upon hearing these four words, the Tibetans' expressions changed drastically. They stopped talking about it, turned around and left, appearing extremely averse to it.

After inquiring with several people who said the same thing, Ma Chongfeng used some tricks—money can pry open a ghost's mouth—and finally managed to get the information from an old drunkard.

Buzhala'ang is a village hidden deep in the Wutuo Snow Ridge Valley. Although it belongs to the Monpa ethnic group, it is much more remote than the areas where the Monpa people live.

The people there basically refuse to communicate with the outside world. In the minds of Tibetans outside the area, it is a gathering place for evil demons, a very terrifying place where evil spirits roam freely and all evil souls that cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation gather there.

Even if an animal accidentally stumbles into that area, it will be devoured by the evil spirits within moments, reduced to bones.

The old drunkard warned them that when they saw a naturally formed, reclining human-shaped rock in the canyon, they must immediately turn back, because beyond that they would be completely entering the territory of the Buzaraon people.

This is actually related to a legend. It is said that a monk who was traveling and practicing Buddhism once passed through there and saw black clouds rising into the sky above the canyon. He then decided to chant sutras to help the evil souls in this area pass away before he passed away, vowing to help all the evil souls pass away into hell before he died, so that they could be reincarnated.

Legends are legends precisely because there is no real evidence to prove them; they are nothing more than speculation.

Ma Chongfeng led his brother to the precipitous valley covered in snow. After walking for a mile, they saw a rock that looked very much like a monk.

Further in, strange rocks stood in rows, resembling the ruins of a massive ancient temple after its collapse. Inside, they saw many broken small stupas, and the dark, crumbling walls stretched across the white snow, eerie and unsettling.

The horse beneath me became restless upon reaching this point, as if it had sensed danger. It pawed and hissed, and no matter how much I whipped it, it refused to move forward an inch.

But Ma Chongshan insisted on going inside, because he had a premonition that there would be something he wanted inside.

Helpless, Ma Chongfeng had no choice but to dismount, carry Ma Chongshan on his back, and continue walking inside.

The place wasn't actually as terrifying as the old drunkard had described. At least along the way, Ma Chongshan and his companion hadn't encountered anything strange, proving the rumors were untrue.

Before long, many stone caves appeared ahead, each one arranged in a staggered manner, suspended on the cliff, looking very much like houses.

The entrances to some of the caves were covered with straw mats and felt curtains to block the howling cold wind.

Opposite the cave is the partially collapsed temple sacrificial site, with a very large stone altar. It reeks of blood and has mysterious patterns that look like bird or animal designs, with very large and intricate wings on both sides.

The Ma brothers stayed here for three days. During that time, they tried to find the people who lived here, but strangely, although there were traces of human life in these stone caves, there was no sign of any living people. It was as if these people had all evaporated into thin air.

On the third night, Ma Chongshan finally met the tall, thin, dark-skinned man who had approached him earlier.

Like a ghostly figure floating in the air, just like last time, the person suddenly appeared beside Ma Chongshan's pillow.

Ma Chongshan was startled awake from his sleep. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a bright green fox head. He was so frightened that his soul almost flew out of his body. He let out a short scream, and when he looked closely, he realized that it was a mask worn on a human face.

The mask had a very narrow chin, pointed eyes, and a long jaw; its shape was quite bizarre. At first glance, one might mistake it for a fox spirit.

Ma Chongfeng, who was resting in the same cave, heard nothing and slept soundly.

The fox-masked man was very satisfied that Ma Chongshan had arrived as promised. He stepped forward, picked Ma Chongshan up, and led him out of the cave.

Under the cold moonlight, Ma Chongshan saw that there were more than a dozen people surrounding the stone altar, and they all wore fox masks on their faces.

Seeing this, Zhang Wuxun understood. It seemed that these mass-produced products wearing fox masks were the Wang family members who had given Ma Chongshan the Heavenly Longevity Silkworm Gu back then.

Thank you so much to the generous donor [Lost Memories, But Not You]! Sending you lots of love!
(End of this chapter)