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

Chapter 398 What if ten years
The young man sat silently in the chair, his expression looking somewhat unnatural and helpless.

Zhang Wuxun saw that he seemed to want to say something but hesitated, then suddenly remembered something, exclaimed "Ah!" and said to him, "I left the other Ghost Seal with Wu Xie."

The young man's eyebrows twitched, as if he was a little surprised, but he quickly realized what was going on.

He paused for a moment, then spoke softly, "The other key is in your hands."

Zhang Wuxun was stunned. "Key? What key?"

Seeing this, the young man reminded him, "An ancient building at the bottom of the lake, a stone coffin with a bell."

The ancient building at the bottom of the lake... the tower bell and the stone coffin... A fragment flashed through Zhang Wuxun's mind, and he remembered that the four of them had found the clues left by Zhang Menyu inside the spire of the ancient building at the bottom of the lake.

On the stone altar inside was a stone coffin box containing a bronze fox mask and an oval-shaped gilded purple jade box. At the time, he was thinking to himself that the thing looked like a mutated ostrich egg.

However, he never opened the box after receiving it, so he had no idea what was inside.

"The key you mentioned is in that little box?" Zhang Wuxun looked at the young man and asked, "What kind of key?"

The young man said, "It's similar to the dragon-fish-playing-with-pearl key inlaid with meteorite jade in the mouth of the female corpse next to the Blue-Eyed Fox Corpse, except it's in the shape of fire."

Zhang Wuxun remembered that key; he had taken it from the mouth of the incorruptible female corpse by cutting the mechanism wire.

He remembered clearly that the handle of the bronze key was made of two strangely shaped fish, interlocked like a yin-yang symbol, with a dark green bead, about the size of a glass marble, tightly embedded in the empty space in the middle.

The key, after comparing it to the keyhole, looked like the one from the purple-gold box held by the Blue-Eyed Fox Corpse, which Wu Xie later took with him.

Zhang Wuxun asked in confusion, "How did you know? That thing seems to have been left to me by Zhang Menyu. Could it be that those two keys are actually a pair?"

The young man hummed in agreement and nodded, "I've seen it in the murals."

Zhang Wuxun silently pondered the young man's words, extracting the key information from them.

Meteorite jade, dragonfish key, ghost seal… bronze door—his eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at the young man with joy, somewhat incredulous. He opened his mouth, stammering, “Young man…you…agree!”

The young man nodded slightly, "If you still remember me ten years from now."

If you still remember me ten years from now, you can bring the Ghost Seal and the key to Changbai Mountain and open that door.

This was the first time the young man had brought up that agreement on his own initiative.

Agreements are often meaningless; they are not like executions where they are carried out immediately. Whether or not they are truly obeyed depends entirely on the individual.

Just like the agreement he once made with the Nine Gates, they clearly remembered it, yet deliberately forgot it, and not one of them kept their promise.

The young man has no intention of pursuing or condemning what happened in the past, because it is meaningless; the word "meaning" itself is meaningless.

When we talk about meaning, meaning itself loses its meaning; there is only the value of the words, not the value of the actions.

When the young man said those words, he left room for maneuver for both himself and the other party.

Even if Zhang Wuxun, Wu Xie, and Fatty don't keep their promise to go to the Bronze Gate ten years later, Xiao Ge still won't blame or resent anything. There are too many variables involved, and ten long years is enough time for people to forget many things.

He had long been accustomed to walking alone in this bustling world like a passerby.

Perhaps it was the bond of blood as members of the Zhang family, or perhaps it was the sight of this young member of the Zhang family looking so sad that he finally let that desire grow at the moment of parting.

Such a faint longing had not appeared in his heart for a long time.

After the young man finished speaking, his eyes returned to their previous extreme indifference. That extra emotion fell gently between heaven and earth like snowflakes, as if it were a fleeting moment, replaced by a quiet and transcendent peace.

Zhang Wuxun stared at the younger brother, his joy followed by sadness and heartache. At that moment, he suddenly realized that it seemed that only when he was by the younger brother's side could his emotions be as obvious as those of a naive junior.

He took out the small white stone in the shape of a triangular pyramid from his pocket. He had already transformed the original stone into a misty blue, semi-transparent teardrop pendant that fit the shape of the stone.

This is a link that the young man left for himself, whether intentionally or unintentionally, before he fully regained his memory.

Since deciding to venture deep into the snow-capped mountains, Zhang Wuxun has carried the pendant with him, giving instructions and hints to his own memories in order to prevent the worst-case scenario from occurring.

Just like a person who has entered hypnosis returning to reality under the stimulation of specific objects or sounds.

Because he didn't know what was inside that fake bronze door, he wanted to use this pendant to bind his memories; forgetting without knowing anything is a terrible thing.

Even if there might be something behind that door that could erase his memory, seeing this would bring back everything.

Zhang Wuxun didn't ask Xiao Ge what he was going to do next, nor did he utter a long string of sentimental words.

Only when he approached the gate of parting for the second time did Zhang Wuxun open his arms and embrace the god he revered most, whispering a final farewell in his ear.

"Goodbye, buddy!"

The journey to Changbai Mountain is long; I hope you take care on your trip.

"Okay," the young man replied, raising his hand to pat Zhang Wuxun on the shoulder. "Take care."

Mountains and seas will eventually meet again, snow and rain will meet at the right time. Now that we are parting, the mountains are high and the waters are far. I hope that we can meet again as before, with the smiles of old friends unchanged.

﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉

In early December 2004, heavy snow blocked the mountain passes.

Zhang Wuxun waited in Linzhi for nearly two weeks until the mountain road blocked by snow finally opened. He immediately took a long-distance bus to Bayi Town, and then transferred to a minibus heading to Motuo.

He was lucky enough to overhear the driver chatting with two other passengers he knew on the bus. He learned that this was the last public bus to Motuo that year; after that, if he wanted to go, he would have to wait and see if he could catch a horse-drawn or ox-drawn cart returning from the post office. Some say that going to Motuo is like going to the whole world. Motuo, also known as Baimagang, means "hidden lotus" in Tibetan. It is one of the most mysterious places in the snowy region, located deep in the world-famous Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, a true pure land of Buddhism.

The most famous and unique feature of Medog is the scenery of snow-capped mountains surrounded by clouds and mist. Even in winter, warm and humid air currents from the Indian Ocean flow upstream from south to north along the natural passage of the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, creating this world where fog and snow complement each other.

Compared to other places along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway with harsh and extremely cold climates, Medog has a pleasant climate. Due to its geographical location, even when it snows, the heavy snow won't reach the county.

Although the van Zhang Wuxun was riding in was a bit old, the driver took good care of it and maintained it quite well; the horn and lights were still there, and it was very resilient.

Medog is a secluded little county town under the jurisdiction of Nyingchi City. Since the highways built in later generations have not yet been opened, there are only sections of dirt roads here. They are rugged and uneven, with small mounds and potholes appearing from time to time, making them very bumpy and barely passable.

When the snow melted at noon, the wheels would get stuck in the soft mud, requiring the three passengers, including Zhang Wuxun, to get off and help push them. Their clothes were covered in mud, and they were covered in dirt.

Zhang Wuxun wiped the sweat from his forehead, and the wet mud on his hands inevitably smeared onto his face.

Looking at the winding mountain road ahead, he sighed helplessly, having already given up struggling. In this state, what was the point of arguing?

Zhang Wuxun and his group started their journey at 10 a.m. and, after driving and pushing the car, finally arrived at their destination as dusk fell. Along the way, they even had a local who was familiar with the roads take over driving.

Staring at the white, snow-capped mountains for too long can cause retinal irritation from sunlight reflection, potentially leading to snow blindness.

Before getting off the bus, Zhang Wuxun took off his cotton-padded coat and put on a cashmere sweater underneath. Then he wrapped his coat tightly around himself, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and said goodbye to the driver.

The temperature was a bit lower in the evening, so Zhang Wuxun went back to the small inn where he had stayed the last time he was here. It was actually a Tibetan family's courtyard. He asked if there were any spare rooms he could stay in for the night.

There are currently no private guesthouses in Medog. People in this era are still busy making money, so very few outsiders come to this extremely remote area. It will take a few more years for the tourism industry to gradually develop.

The hotel owner was very hospitable and brought him a big bowl of prepared stone pot chicken, as well as brown sugar glutinous rice cakes that he could eat as snacks.

Zhang Wuxun nestled on the warm kang (heated brick bed), chatting with his host while devouring mutton.

Looking at the howling snow outside and feeling drowsy in the warm atmosphere inside, he decided to stay the night and go see Aning tomorrow.

Nothing was said that night, and the wind and snow raged.

The next day, Zhang Wuxun was awakened by the sound of snow sweeping outside the courtyard. He glanced at the time and saw that it was only a little past seven o'clock. He was no longer sleepy, so he got up, opened the door, and went outside to help the shop owner and his wife sweep snow for more than an hour before washing up with hot water and having breakfast.

During their casual conversation, he asked the Tibetan couple about the location of the post office that appeared in the original storyline. It was about five or six kilometers away from here, also at the foot of Mount Karren.

Zhang Wuxun took out the map he had bought when he came here last time and asked them to help him find the way. After thanking the Tibetan couple, he went back into the house, put two bills under his pillow with only one corner sticking out, then said goodbye to them, put on his backpack and left the courtyard.

He decided to go find Aning first. She had been staying here for a long time, and there was some information to exchange. He needed to know how this part of the story would change if he advanced the plot line.

The snowfall last night wasn't actually very heavy. The cold wind blew almost all the snow debris to accumulate at the base of the north-facing walls of the houses, so the snow on the road wasn't very thick.

Following his memory, Zhang Wuxun arrived at the crowded tiled houses. He turned left and right in the alley, but strangely, he did not sense the presence of the safety buckle as before.

A sense of unease crept into his heart. Could it be that A Ning's actions here had already attracted the attention of the Zhang family overseas? After all, the face he gave A Ning... was Zhang Haixing's face.

Standing in front of the wooden-tiled courtyard, Zhang Wuxun carefully observed the traces outside the door, but unfortunately, the snow had covered all the traces, and there were only his two lines of one-way footprints around him.

After releasing his danger senses to confirm that no one was in the house and that Lang Qing from the doghouse was also gone, Zhang Wuxun looked around but found no signs of residents. He then stepped onto the courtyard wall and climbed over.

The snow in the yard was blown into clumps by the wind. Zhang Wuxun nimbly jumped down and quickly walked to the door. The windows of the house were covered from the inside by thick felt cloth, and the lock on the door was still there. It was possible that A Ning had left on her own.

If Aning left on her own, she would definitely have left clues for Zhang Wuxun inside the house. If not, Zhang Wuxun's heart sank; then things were going to get a little troublesome.

He took out a wire, pried open the lock, pushed the door open, and closed it behind him.

The room was dark, but it didn't bother Zhang Wuxun much. The furnishings were still the same simple and tidy items. He reached over and touched the edge of the stove. The dust on his hand indicated that it had been more than a week since A Ning left.

Finding no signs of a struggle in the house, Zhang Wuxun went to the cabinet in the corner, moved it aside, and found nothing in the hole underneath.

It's still unclear how A-Ning left. If Zhang Haike and his group took A-Ning away, they could have restored this place to its original state. A-Ning really wouldn't stand a chance against the Zhang family.

Zhang Wuxun sighed. Although A Ning's human skin mask was a bit troublesome, it was precisely because of that face that many speculations arose about her. Both the Zhang family and the Wang family would question her identity.

Unless the sky falls, those two groups will never get together and live in harmony.

Just as it's impossible to determine who the real Wu Xie is, with the element of divine mandate involved, who can know whether A Ning is the real Zhang Haixing?

Why did Zhang Haixing, who was taken away by the Wang family, end up in Motuo? Or is she not Zhang Haixing, nor a member of the Wang family? Her identity has become even more mysterious.

Both the overseas Zhang family members and the fake Zhang Haixing have concerns. They cannot simply eliminate A Ning as easily as they dealt with Wu Xie N.∞. They need to dig deeper into A Ning's past.

No matter what, Aning will not be in any danger, especially after Zhang Wuxun appeared in Motuo with Wu Xie's face, the water in the pool became even more murky.

The arrogant Zhang family members overseas were bound to take action, and Zhang Wuxun was not afraid of them watching him; this was a deliberate prelude for him.

During his third trip to the Qinling Mountains to recharge the system, the system also revealed some information to Zhang Wuxun about the ancient tribe under the sacred tree altar. Indeed, as he had imagined, the other hidden tattoo on his body was closely related to that tribe.

In other words, the strange flame tattoo on Zhang Wuxun's body is a fusion of that tribal totem and a mountain shadow.

The previous tattoos did not fully show up, and according to the system, he actually has tattoos on his back as well.

[We met at the perfect time, the road to Changbai Mountain was long, we listened to the wind and gazed at the snow for ten years, finally awaiting the return of his spirit.]

—The prologue to the Tibetan Flower, the beginning of reincarnation, Zhang Qiling hears the last call of the world.

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(End of this chapter)