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

Chapter 410 Visitors in the Snow
It wasn't until Jude Kaw took over the German leader's business that a group of people suddenly approached him and discussed something with him—a huge secret.

Jude Kao had seen it with his own eyes, so he believed it without hesitation. For many people, immortality is a very tempting thing.

After Jude Kao's death, a group of people took advantage of the chaos to leave. The mysterious leader of the Quiet Company took over many of the money-draining projects that had been split off from the original company. He then successfully continued the projects that Jude Kao was in charge of, and the most highly recommended project was to go to the snow mountain to find the mysterious celestial stone.

According to Zhang Wuxun's analysis, the mysterious leader was initially after the man with the long fingers and the snow-capped mountains of Motuo.

Feng said that before acquiring Qiu Dekao's assets, Anjing Company had already poached many of his employees. This group was the advance team for this investigation. If things go smoothly, the company will send more people here to explore the secrets.

The document also included several pictures at the end. The first picture was of a huge, ugly, square stone that was dark blue-green in color and covered with pits and holes, as if its interior had been eaten away by termites, which was quite horrifying to look at.

The label on the side indicates that this is the same celestial stone that the German initially received.

The second image is a bronze sculpture with a human head and a snake's body, resembling a mermaid from a foreign fairy tale. The upper body of the sculpture is female, while the lower body is simply the form of a giant python.

This snake-man was completely coiled around a bronze pillar that resembled a tree trunk. It bared two long fangs, and its entire body, including its cheeks, was covered in scales. Its eyes were alluring yet sinister.

If you look closely with a magnifying glass, you'll find that the snake-man actually has two pairs of eyes. The second pair of eyes is hidden in the pupils of the first pair. Many strange, rune-like spiral patterns are crowded together. Staring at them for a long time can make you feel dizzy and create an indescribable sense of oppression.

As Zhang Wuxun stared at the head, he became somewhat lost in thought, feeling that the face of the severed head looked familiar, and he was certain he had seen it somewhere before.

Where have I seen this before?

Zhang Wuxun pondered deeply, one face after another flashing through his mind like a movie. His memory storage method was a bit special; it was staged, like playing a TV series, and recalling the past was like rewinding a film reel.

Soon, he found the source of the familiar face on the statue.

That was the face of the Queen Mother of the West—the face of the fake Queen Mother of the West on the throne outside the Meteorite Nest.

Why would such a face appear here?
Zhang Wuxun felt a surge of doubt and asked the German, "Where did you get the statue in this picture?"

Li Ande and Feng exchanged a glance, both seeing the doubt in each other's eyes.

Zhang Wuxun said bluntly, "Don't try to fool me. I can tell if you're lying from your eyes. If your reasons are convincing enough, I don't mind going into the snow mountain with you."

Li Ande was somewhat delighted. He hadn't expected that a single picture would change the long-fingered man's mind. In his opinion, the picture depicted an ancient Medusa in an oriental form, with nothing particularly special about it except for the material.

"Mr. Bai, do you think there's something special about this thing?"

Li Ande spoke first, "This is a small bronze statue, only the size of a palm. It was brought out of the deep mountains by our team members during the last snow mountain expedition. At first, it was in terrible condition, so we asked the best craftsmen to repair and fill it, which is why it looks like it now. Our leader is very fond of it, and because of this, our operation was brought forward a lot."

"Unfortunately, the surviving team member seemed to be under some kind of curse. When we found him, he had gone mad. He had a malignant tumor in the occipital lobe and frontal lobe of his brain that was compressing his nerves and memory. Even with the most advanced treatment, he did not last long."

Li Ande thought to himself, perhaps this thing really is the cursed Medusa, capable of plundering people's wisdom, and the leader hopes they can bring out something a hundred times more mysterious than the snake-man statue from the snow mountain.

Indeed, the snake-man sculpture in the photo shows obvious signs of reconstruction at its tail, and the top of the bronze tree it is clinging to also looks like it is missing a part.

Zhang Wuxun pondered silently. This thing was too distinctive. Perhaps one of the German teams had stumbled upon something near the bronze gate by accident, or perhaps what they found was just a trap set by the Zhang family.

He continued to look at the third picture. It was a stone statue, incomplete, as if a small section had been cut off from a huge stone statue. It was covered with very complex patterns, the edges were broken and cracked, and the shape was distorted. It looked more like the tentacle of a sea monster.

"And what is this?" he asked, pointing to the picture.

“The remains of a demon.” Feng suddenly lowered his voice, his expression becoming nervous.

Zhang Wuxun looked at him with a half-smile, "What, did one of your teams fight a demon for three hundred rounds?"

Feng awkwardly touched his nose. "I'm not very clear about the origin of this thing either. It was given to us by the higher-ups. You know, our leader is really too mysterious. To be honest, I've never seen what the leader really looks like. I only know that he's very rich, very, very rich!"

Zhang Wuxun didn't even look up, "I don't lack money."

"Alright." Feng hadn't expected that this wouldn't tempt him either, so he had no choice but to compromise. "Then what do you want? You've already seen our information, when can you give us the notes?"

“I can show you the notes, but I need to know Bai Lingdang’s current situation, preferably through video.” In front of them, Zhang Wuxun took out the first volume of Deren’s notes from his pocket and placed it on the table.

He needed to make these Germans believe that they actually held leverage over him so that his plans could proceed more smoothly. While the Zhang family overseas was still focused on Wu Xie in Hangzhou, he needed to hurry up and arrange everything in Motuo.

Li Ande looked at his hand with some suspicion, then at the thin Tibetan robe he was wearing. The charcoal fire in the room was strong, and Zhang Wuxun was only wearing a single layer of clothing. He was quite certain that the man hadn't been carrying anything before, so where did the scroll in front of him come from?
Zhang Wuxun enjoyed seeing these foreigners act like they'd never seen the world before. He joked, "Mr. Li, don't you claim to be an expert on China? In the ancient and mysterious civilization of the East, there is a Taoist technique that is even more magical than magic, called Five Ghosts Moving. I can move something from one place to another without physical contact."

Li Ande's expression softened slightly. After Zhang Wuxun revealed this skill, he became more wary of the man. No wonder the people he had arranged for him to find no clues about the scrolls in the house.

He then laughed, "If we had known earlier that Mr. Bai had practiced such miraculous skills, we would have visited you long ago. As for Miss Bai's video, I can give you an answer within three days."

"Okay." Zhang Wuxun also curled the corners of his mouth, but there was not much of a smile in his eyes.

On the other side, Feng had already focused all his attention on taking notes, but Li Ande was still thinking about something else, "Mr. Bai, what about the oil painting?"

Zhang Wuxun said, "The oil painting belongs to the temple; I have no right to show it to you."

The scroll Zhang Wuxun took out was only a small part of what Xiao Ge had seen before arriving at the Holy Lake, but this small part was enough to make the Germans yearn for it wildly.

The Germans only needed to confirm that Zhang Wuxun could indeed lead them to that place, and that was enough.

The following afternoon, they went together to see the High Lama Deren.

Li Ande, being very understanding, made the decision to donate a lot of incense money to the lama temple, and then got the opportunity to observe the oil painting from a distance of two meters. Li Ande's purpose was the sacred lake in the painting. After obtaining Deren's permission, he took photos of the painting, then said goodbye to Zhang Wuxun, and said that the video of Aning's daily life would be sent over soon.

As soon as they left, Deren carefully put the painting away.

Deren looked at Zhang Wuxun and sighed, "Some isolated places are isolated because disturbing them can cause many unpredictable things."

Germans are cunning and greedy. Don't be fooled by their easygoing demeanor now; once they're determined to get something done, they won't hesitate to use any means necessary.

Zhang Wuxun picked up his chopsticks and ruthlessly popped the bubbles floating on the surface of the butter tea in the bowl, one by one, before taking a small sip. "Let's deal with them before they disturb our seclusion."

Deren looked at Zhang Wuxun with loving and peaceful eyes, saying, "What people are attached to is often what they are deceived by."

Zhang Wuxun said calmly, "Yesterday was fate, it's already set in stone. Tomorrow is destiny, anything is possible."

The past cannot be undone, but the future can be changed.

For thousands of years, the Zhang family has only been obsessed with the future, while Zhang Wuxun cares about how to use the present to change the future.

Deren smiled faintly, "That distinguished guest said the same thing: the causes of the past have led to the results of today's events."

"If he succeeds, then I will cease to exist." Zhang Wuxun's gaze softened considerably. In this tranquil space filled with the faint scent of sandalwood, watching the distant mountains bathed in the serene twilight, his troubled heart calmed down.

"Can I see your face?" Deren asked.

Zhang Wuxun put down his teacup, raised his hand and wiped his face from top to bottom. The materialization ability was equivalent to re-copying an indelible human skin mask onto his original face. Without the system's intervention, he could now change his appearance at will, which was actually quite terrifying.

For some reason, Zhang Wuxun hardly thought of hiding himself in front of Deren, as if Deren was just an old friend and elder he knew well and could confide secrets to.

Seeing that he changed his appearance so easily, Deren did not show any surprise. Obviously, he already knew that Zhang Wuxun had this ability, or he had seen Zhang Menyu's ability before.

“Some people say I look a lot like him,” Zhang Wuxun said.

Deren carried the candle to his side and walked over, carefully examining his bright face. In the candlelight, his otherworldly face revealed a hint of holiness.

“It’s similar yet not quite,” Deren said. “You’ve been in contact with the human world, and you’re warmer than him. If you were to describe it using something tangible, he’s more like dark clouds and continuous rain, seeping into people’s hearts and taking away all the warmth around them, but he himself is still rain and will not change.”

Zhang Wuxun was somewhat surprised by Deren's description, "And what about me?"

Deren smiled slowly, “You are like the sweet dew on green leaves and white lotus leaves after the rain in the early morning, the thin sun melting the mist, elusive, yet not too lonely.”

This description made Zhang Wuxun slightly uncomfortable, and he felt a bit complicated. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond, so he quickly put Wu Xie's friendly face back on, making the atmosphere perfect.

With some time before the evening break, Deren began to recall the past when he met Zhang Menyu.

“I don’t know when he entered the snow mountain. He suddenly appeared at the temple gate at the beginning of winter, looking for the original Deren Lama.”

At that time, he had just been elected as the Grand Lama by the Panchen Lama.

The man arrived at the entrance of the mountain temple. The young lama invited him to enter, but he refused. Helpless, the young lama had to go and invite the senior lama.

Because of that experience in his early years, the high lama was particularly concerned about visitors to the snow mountain.

Therefore, when the young lama explained about the person who came from the snow, the senior lama, remembering the agreement, went out of the temple to meet him.

The high lama still vividly remembered the young man's face, even after many years.

However, when he saw Zhang Menyu's unfamiliar face, he was still momentarily stunned. After years of training, he had long since mastered the ability to remain unmoved and unperturbed by external things, but that one glance was truly amazing.

The man stood quietly beside a long-leaved red pine tree at the temple entrance, with silvery-white frosty leaves and falling snow behind him. The moment he turned his head to look in this direction, only two lines of poetry appeared in the Grand Lama's mind.

Her jade-like bones are like those of a startled crabapple tree, her radiant beauty resting on a cold branch.

The person's appearance was vividly painted, as if he were a peerless figure who had stepped out of an ancient painting, or a mountain spirit who came out to play in the human world on a snowy day.

The high lama looked at him and initially thought it was snow that had turned his hair white. But when the man took off the cloak and hood from his head, his head was covered in a cascade of silver hair.

The high lama was surprised to find that this young man had prematurely gray hair, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the man had always had a full head of silver hair.

Even though their appearances were vastly different, their aloof and detached temperaments were somewhat similar. The Grand Lama tried to find a familiar look on that face, but to no avail. He only felt that the man's eyes were exceptionally lonely.

The high lama thought to himself, "This is yet another strange and mysterious person."

The man humbly introduced himself and his purpose. After learning from the high lama that Deren had passed away many years ago, the man remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "May I enter the temple for a visit?"

When Zhang Menyu first came to Jila Temple, he followed the Grand Lama wherever he went, strolling aimlessly.

He stopped abruptly when he saw the stone sculpture in the courtyard behind the mountain.

Zhang Menyu asked the Grand Lama who this person was and why he looked so sad.

He listened to the chanting of Buddha in the snow.

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(End of this chapter)