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

Chapter 424 has disappeared again.
The group carefully moved the iron lump onto the stone platform that emerged from the water. They saw that his body was covered with wounds from sharp claws, and he was almost unconscious, barely breathing.

Wu Xie's words were clearly a death sentence for Tie Tuo; Tie Tuo wouldn't last until they got to the hospital.

Dafu hugged Tietuo and wept bitterly. Who could remain unmoved as they watched their good brother die before their eyes?

Wu Xie patted Dafu on the shoulder and sighed, "Please accept my condolences."

The rise and fall of Tie Tuo's chest grew weaker and weaker until it disappeared completely.

The crowd made way for Dafu to tidy up his face. Dafu's eyes were blurry with tears. He felt something sticky on his hands. At first, he didn't pay attention to it, but the more he worked on his hair, the stickier his hands felt.

Dafu was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly wiped away his tears with his sleeve. He looked closely at the thing in his hand, then at Tietuo's face, and immediately let out a scream and sat down in the water.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" The fat man hurriedly looked over, and when he shone his flashlight on him, he also gasped in shock.

The swollen skin on Tie Tuo's corpse had been rubbed up like dough, and after being soaked in water, most of the fleshy tissue under the skin was now exposed.

"Good heavens! I'm telling you, Dafu, even if you're heartbroken, you can't just rub your good buddy's face off like this. Who the hell would recognize this as a lump of iron?" The fat man looked utterly miserable.

Dafu was so anxious that he couldn't speak coherently, "No...it wasn't me, this...this...I don't know what happened either, it just suddenly disappeared."

Wu Xie was searching for clues on the stone statue when he heard this and rushed over, "What's wrong?"

As he spoke, he looked at the corpse of Tie Tuo lying on the edge of the stone platform and was surprised. After careful observation, he was shocked to find that there was another layer of skin under the corpse's face.

He immediately understood what was going on. "Don't panic, we've been scammed again."

Confused, Wu Xie put on rubber gloves and gently peeled off the top layer of skin, carefully unfolding it for everyone to see. He explained, "This outer layer is a human skin mask. Someone deliberately made a face out of iron to tease us."

"And the face beneath the human skin mask, judging from the marks of being dragged and rubbed, is probably the third of the wild lamas who came in earlier."

The remaining few tree cocoons, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be the remains of those few wild lamas.

The fat man peeked out and took a closer look. Damn it, it really was like that. He was furious and looked around. "Which little brat dares to mess with me? If you've got the guts, step forward and let's fight one-on-one!"

Wu Xie pressed down on his shoulder, "Alright, Fatty, the person who's playing us for a fool isn't here. In this hidden jungle, the monkey is his eyes and ears."

"But now it's certain that the iron block is in his hands, and he is the mysterious person who taught the mandrill sign language. Moreover, he has been watching us since the moment we stepped into this forest."

The mysterious figure is in the shadows, while they are in the light; any action they take is passive.

Wu Xie had a vague premonition that all the coincidences he and Fatty encountered after arriving in western Sichuan were deliberately arranged in advance by that mysterious person.

The phrase "the time has come" that Granny Monkey keeps repeating—does it refer to the "time has come" that Little Brother Muyu is talking about, or is it the time that the mysterious person and Muyu's ancestors agreed upon?

The feeling of being constantly monitored is awful.

Wu Xie took a deep breath to calm himself down. So far, neither the monkey troop nor the "iron lump" they encountered had caused them any real harm; they were just being intimidated and teased, much like the "boy who cried wolf" game in the story.

Does this mean that the mysterious person currently has no intention of killing them?

Otherwise, the monkeys following them at a distance would have already rushed up and torn them to pieces.

However, this peace was only temporary. Although they hadn't met yet, Wu Xie could sense that the mysterious person's personality was extremely unruly and eccentric. He played with human lives, and such a person was a very uncontrollable type of person, or in short, a psychopath.

The body had been confirmed not to be Tie Tuo's. While Da Fu was relieved, he couldn't help but feel angry. He cursed inwardly, "Damn it, I cried for nothing. Where did that bastard Tie Tuo go?"

He's on the verge of death and back to life every now and then. If this happens a few more times, his little heart will be pounding with fear.

The small temple only housed a stone statue the size of a millstone. Wu Xie found no trace of any mechanism on it, meaning that the temple's purpose was simply for worship and offerings.

The group returned to the top, checked the compass direction, and continued deeper into the jungle.

In the sweltering summer heat, coupled with a heavy downpour last night, the jungle was unbearably hot and humid. Everyone was so hot that they wanted to take their shirts off, but countless mosquitoes swarmed around the bushes, grass roots, and puddles, and before you knew it, your body was covered in bites.

The mosquitoes in this primeval jungle all carry a slight venom. Although they won't kill you immediately, they will paralyze your muscles, making you drowsy and tired.

There weren't enough safety buckles, and ordinary insect repellent wasn't very effective; two or three of the young men had already fallen victim to the insects.

Left with no other choice, Wu Xie broke a safety buckle, poured the liquid inside into water, secretly added some of his own blood, and then distributed the resulting medicinal mixture to everyone, instructing them to apply it to their exposed skin, which provided some relief.

The fat man had three mints in his mouth. When he spoke, a cool breeze would rush into his throat, as if the top of his head had been elevated.

After walking through the jungle all day, they were constantly watched by the shadowy surveillance, but when they looked back, they could only see the lush green canopy, and even the rustling of the leaves in the wind sounded eerie.

As evening fell, the dizzying jungle finally changed. A large earthen wall resembling a castle appeared ahead, standing there darkly, like a mountain.

The group walked quickly over, looked up at the towering city walls, and couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.

This is a mysterious city hidden among towering trees, even though it is not as large as the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West.

"Goodness, that old Gu King is awesome! He actually built a city here. Look, there are still arrows left over from when he was defending the city." The fat man pointed to an iron arrowhead stuck in a deep crack in a tree.

There are countless similar marks on the city wall, all of which are proof that they once existed in the long river of history.

As night fell, Wu Xie instructed everyone to set up camp and rest at the foot of the city wall, and to discuss how to get in the next morning.

Sitting by the campfire, Wu Xie watched as Nie Xiaoba placed small bottles of medicated oil with cotton swabs inserted into the mouths of the bottles in the corners of the three tents to repel mosquitoes at night, and also sprinkled realgar and medicinal powder around the campsite to repel snakes and insects.

Wu Xie turned to Fatty and asked, "How much food do we have left?"

They had been in the mountains for over a week, and the supplies they brought in were only enough for half a month. The fat man turned over the straw mushrooms and termite mushrooms roasting on the fire. These were the only two kinds of mushrooms he recognized that were edible; he didn't dare eat the others that he wasn't sure about. "It's enough to last us for nine days. Tomorrow morning, when we enter this Land of Immortality, we should get more mushrooms, dry them, and take them with us."

Wu Xie nodded, looking at the imposing high wall in the darkness, and said, "It's impossible to climb up this height with bare hands. Tomorrow, let's try to climb up from the tree on one side."

At night, Wu Xie was suddenly awakened by a scream while he was fast asleep. He hurriedly unzipped his pants and went out to check what was going on.

"What's going on?" He initially thought it was another monkey troop attack, but there were no monkeys in the trees near the camp.

"Young Master Nie!" Nie Xiaoba and another henchman who had challenged the gang leader rushed over anxiously, their foreheads covered in cold sweat. "Something terrible has happened! Dafu and Azhai are both missing!"

"Gone?" Wu Xie frowned. "Explain exactly what happened."

Nie Xiaoba hurriedly told him that he had been sleeping well at night, but then he felt a chill on his body. When he opened his eyes in a daze, he found that the zipper of his tent was wide open and that Dafu, who shared a tent with him, was not there.

At first, he thought Dafu had slipped out to relieve himself, so he didn't pay much attention and closed his eyes to continue sleeping. But when he turned over, his hand unconsciously landed on Dafu's sleeping bag and touched something icy cold. He was startled and grabbed the thing and threw it away.

Nie Xiaoba swallowed hard, still shaken. "Third Master, that was a snake, all red, it was terrifying. As soon as I threw it out, it twisted into a gourd shape and tried to bite me. Luckily, I had experience catching snakes with adults when I was a kid, so I didn't get bitten. In the end, I threw my sleeping bag up to cover it and managed to chop the snake to death."

Upon hearing him mention red snakes, Wu Xie felt a very bad feeling. He immediately told Ban Tou to wake up Fatty, while he and Nie Xiaoba ran to the tent with the large opening, lit a lantern, and looked inside.

The tent was a mess. He carefully lifted the sleeping bags piled on the ground, and inside were several pieces of red-scaled snake meat that were still wriggling.

The snake wasn't very thick, only about the width of a bottle cap. Although it was entirely red, it wasn't as red as the one he had seen in the snake swamp.

Wu Xie poked at the snake segment with his knife, trying to find the pheasant's head, but he couldn't find it no matter how hard he tried.

At this moment, the fat man also arrived. He had just approached with his flashlight when he suddenly stopped a meter behind Nie Xiaoba, looking terrified.

Nie Xiaoba sensed something was wrong and turned around to ask, "Fatty, what's wrong?"

The fat man's expression changed drastically, and he roared, "Stop! Ugh, stop right there! Don't move!"

Nie Xiaoba trembled in fright, nearly dropping the knife in his hand. He cautiously turned his head to the side and saw Fatty and Ban Tou staring nervously at his back.

Wu Xie quickly circled behind him, and then immediately adopted the same expression as Fatty and the other man.

Nie Xiaoba was almost frantic. He craned his neck to see what was behind him, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw what looked like a bright red thing hanging on his butt.

The fat man took out thick gloves and said, "How about I do it?"

"I'll do it," Wu Xie said. They hadn't expected to find pheasant necks here, and the antivenom they carried was only for ordinary venomous snakes. If they were bitten, there would be only one outcome.

Wu Xie softened his voice to reassure Nie Xiaoba, "Don't be nervous. The snake's head should just be hanging on your pants and hasn't bitten in. Just carefully remove it."

Nie Xiaoba swallowed hard, cold sweat trickling down his temples. He steeled himself and said, "Third Master, go ahead and do it. I'm not afraid!"

"Okay." Wu Xie held large tweezers in both hands, bent down and silently approached.

First, use tweezers to hold the edge of the fabric that the snake's head is biting, and carefully lift it up with the slightest movement. Use the other tweezers to hold the snake's snout, and you can clearly feel the snake's crest twitch under your hand.

The fat man next to him reacted quickly and cut off the clump of fabric that was stuck in the fabric with a pair of scissors.

Wu Xie tossed the snake's head onto the grass, its iconic comb still trembling. The snake's mouth opened and closed, a small trickle of milky white venom dripping from it.

"Alright, hurry up and change into some solid pants," Wu Xie said. "Carefully check the camp to see if there are any pheasant neck remnants left. These things are poisonous, so remember to bring a few torches to drive them away. Be careful not to go too far."

The fat man cursed at the severed snake head on the ground, "Damn it, didn't they say the pheasants in the snake kiln all had their necks burned to death in a fire? Where did this son of a bitch come from?"

Nie Xiaoba clutched his pants, which had a huge hole in them, and felt the chilly night wind blowing in. He was on the verge of tears.

The fat man teased him, "Your year is your lucky year, what are you wearing, the Crouching Dragon underpants?"

Nie Xiaoba touched his head, pulled out the red cloth from the tear, and found two very obvious small dents on it.

Wu Xie's expression changed. "Did it bite you?"

Nie Xiaoba hurriedly pulled out a yellow talisman folded into a triangle from the back pocket of his underwear and said with a silly smile, "No, I didn't bite it. Luckily I was wearing red underwear and had a talisman in my back pocket that helped me out, otherwise I would really be stuck here today."

The fat man glanced at it and said, "It's so useful. Where did you get it? I'll get one for my birth year to ward off evil spirits."

"He gave it to me by Master Hei. A long time ago, when I went to deliver goods to Master Jiu, Master Hei gave me a discount of ninety-nine yuan." Nie Xiaoba said with a bit of pride.

Fatty nudged Wu Xie with his elbow, "Isn't your master a professional conman? How come he's so effective this time?"

Wu Xie shook his head. "It's probably just a coincidence."

Nie Xiaoba changed his pants, and the four of them searched the area around the camp for a long time with lanterns on.

The team now consists of only four people. They have been searching for two hours but have not found any trace of the pheasant's neck, nor have they found Dafu and Azhai.

According to the board leader, Dafu suddenly came out of the tent, and Azhai thought he was going to pee, so he casually asked him.

However, Dafu did not answer his question, but instead walked straight into the jungle behind the tent.

A-Zhai sensed something was wrong and went to check, but the two haven't returned yet.

Goodnight, Makka Pakka

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(End of this chapter)