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

Chapter 435 Its Trail
Wu Xie put on gloves and picked up a few pieces of the corpse to try to piece them together, but unfortunately Chen Yaxiang's body had been completely blown to bits, especially her back, where not a single piece of good flesh was left.

Tie Tuo pinched his nose and pulled Chen Yaxiang's blasted head out of the water. "Little Third Master, here you go."

When Wu Xie saw it, he saw that her entire head was charred, and her face was burned so badly that not even her parents would recognize her, and even a ghost wouldn't be able to tell her apart.

He could only try to carefully separate the charred, blurred mass of skin and flesh behind her ear with tweezers to discern whether she was using a real face or a human skin mask.

Then, to no avail; even if there was a human skin mask, it burned away along with the face.

Hei Xiazi picked up a small stone lingzhi that had fallen from Chen Yaxiang when he kicked her earlier, weighed it in his palm, walked over to Wu Xie, and asked him, "So, did you find anything?"

Wu Xie shook his head dejectedly, took off his gloves, and sighed, "He destroyed everything completely. He's really ruthless."

I thought I could catch one of those people myself this time and use that to track down a clue, but I never expected that they would so readily seek death.

With Chen Yaxiang dead, it's like stirring up trouble. Although we don't know the purpose of that group's search for the Longevity Kingdom, their plan has failed and they have nothing to gain. The group hiding in the Chen family will definitely be more vigilant, and it will be difficult to catch them again.

However, since things have come to this point, there's no use dwelling on it anymore; we should deal with the immediate issues first.

Wu Xie got up, packed his bag, and said to the others, "Let's go check on Fatty's situation. We didn't hear any loud noises, so he must have been caught."

"These two are still breathing, are we just going to leave them like this?" Black Bear raised his chin at Crazy Old Six and Big Biao on the ground.

Wu Xie shook his head. "It's hopeless. They don't have Qilin blood on them. After they went into the water, the larvae of those soft-bodied creatures burrowed into their stomachs through their nostrils. Before long, the larvae will grow by feeding on the nutrients in the flesh and blood, and then control the corpses to crawl back into the water to hibernate, waiting for fresh blood to awaken them."

"As for the corpses that have completed the hatching process, they are either washed ashore by the water and, after contact with the air, turn into the red slime we've seen before, completely dissolving, or they sink to the bottom of the water and become nutrients for mayfly creatures."

The reason Wu Xie and his companions were unharmed was because they had taken precautions before entering the water, wearing safety amulets and Zhang Fuyin had also given them some blood in advance as a precaution. The larvae were wary and naturally did not approach.

Chen Jinshui was carrying some kind of treasure, and its insect-repelling effect was surprisingly good.

There are often all sorts of strange insects when you go down into a tomb. Hei Xiazi always carries that jade buckle with him. He nodded knowingly, "Alright, enough talk, let's go."

After getting their gear ready, the group carefully jumped across the blown-up stone bridge.

As you crawl out through the crack in the stone chamber door, all the lamps on both sides of the passageway light up. The phosphorus powder inside is ignited by the friction of the airflow generated by the person passing by quickly, and the wax below also starts to burn.

The passageway was over twenty meters long, with many side chambers on both sides, but all of them were blocked by stone doors and mechanisms, so Chen Jinshui could not enter and could only keep running forward.

A gunshot suddenly rang out not far away. Wu Xie stopped in his tracks, worried about Fatty's situation, and immediately quickened his pace to jog.

“Naive, over here.”

Hearing their footsteps, the fat man peeked out from a crack in a stone hall door, and after recognizing who it was, quickly waved to them.

Wu Xie and the others quickly went over and were relieved to see that the fat man was not injured.

"What happened just now when the gun went off?" Wu Xie asked.

"Hey, what could have happened? Chen the bastard just fell into a pit and accidentally fired his weapon."

The fat man led them into the stone hall, which was a small sacrificial site in the underground palace of the Longevity Kingdom. The walls were surrounded by chains and fences, like a bird's nest net covering their heads, making the entire space gloomy and oppressive. Below, a huge bronze cauldron hung from the thick chains.

They stood on a walkway leading to the sacrificial altar. Ascending the steps, they came to a semi-circular platform with a thick, club-like bronze pillar standing on it. A bronze hook extended from the top, and the end of the chain hanging from it also had a T-shaped forked iron hook.

Below each of these large iron hooks is a sloping water trough, which eventually converges into a large trough leading to a deep pit below. Near the edge of the pit, a shriveled ancient corpse hangs from one of the iron hooks.

The two curved hooks at the top of the T-shaped iron hook pierced directly into the ancient corpse's collarbone and held firmly, while the long hook at the bottom hooked onto the ancient corpse's coccyx.

This is a mummified remains of an ape-man. Although the tail is not as long as that of a monkey, it is very clear that the coccyx is protruding and extended, with several vertebra-like bones protruding outwards.

Zhang Fuyin stood at the edge of the altar. When she saw Wu Xie and the others coming over, she waved to them and said, "They're all down there. There are still two or three breathing. Let's see how you handle them."

Last night in the jungle, after the monkey troop scattered Chen Jinshui's group, Zhang Fuyin defeated those men one by one and captured them without breaking a sweat. Afterwards, Wu Xie led Nie Xiaoba and the others, wearing human skin masks and disguising themselves as Chen Jinshui's men, back to the group under the guidance of Old Li from Mediterranean.

Fatty deliberately delayed, leading Chen Jinshui and the others to the pre-arranged location. Then, while crossing a narrow passage at the bottom of the dark lake, Zhang Fuyin had already dived into the underwater side passage. As Fatty passed by, she cut the rope and rescued him from the water.

Wu Xie nodded gratefully to her, "Thank you."

Squeezing through the gap in the railing between the walkway and the altar, and looking down from the edge of the altar, you see a circular pool about seven or eight meters deep, with many grooves and sharp spikes gleaming eerily at the bottom.

Chen Jinshui was deliberately led here, and in the darkness, he fell in without realizing it.

However, he was lucky to escape death; the spikes only grazed his skin. Although he was covered in blood, he was fortunate to have only broken one leg. He then had to face the harsh reality of defeat.

The other managers and employees of the Chen family's gambling den who had been captured by Zhang Fuyin and followed Chen Jinshui were below, their bodies riddled with blood from being pierced by iron spikes.

The flowing blood spread out along the blood drainage groove below, and the pattern could be vaguely seen as a bird totem with outstretched wings.

There was only one entrance here, and there were no stairs to climb up the edge of the sacrificial pit, so Chen Jinshui had no chance of escape from below.

Seeing Wu Xie and the others peering down, especially seeing Hei Xiazi and Mediterranean who had been lying on the ground convulsing and vomiting blood, now standing there unharmed.

Chen Jinshui immediately realized that he had been tricked, and that this whole affair was a trap set specifically for him.

He was panting heavily when he burst into a tirade, "Black Bear, I, Chen Jinshui, have treated you well, haven't I? I paid you more than three times the price of other skilled lamas-catchers. Why did you stab me in the back? You despicable and shameless bastard!"

Hei Xiazi looked pained and said regretfully, "There's nothing I can do. Master Chen is indeed generous, but Boss Xie is offering just too much. My integrity doesn't allow me to refuse such a chance to get rich quick. So, I can only ask that you, Master Chen, suffer in vain."

What does it mean to kill someone by destroying their spirit? This is what it means to kill someone by destroying their spirit!
With Chen Jinshui, the ringleader, trapped, and Crazy Old Six dead, the remaining underlings who blindly followed him were either dead or crippled, posing no threat whatsoever. Wu Xie could now openly and legitimately reclaim their territory. Wu Xie had calculated their nature perfectly, casually setting a trap for them to fall into.

"Aren't Chen Yaxiang and Wang Baichuan also part of your group?" Chen Jinshui asked angrily.

"No." Wu Xie shook his head honestly. "I don't know who Chen Yaxiang really is either, but Wang Baichuan..."

He paused slightly, then looked at Black Bear, "By the way, where did that guy go?"

Hei Xiazi touched his nose. "He's dead. After the group was broken up by the monkey troop, I followed Chen Yaxiang. I originally wanted to see what she was up to, but she just killed him."

Wu Xie sighed regretfully, "It's such a pity, but it's too late now. You and Wang Baichuan are the only ones to blame for letting the wolf into the house, which gave me such a good opportunity to deal with you."

"Think about it. Do you plan to stay here forever, or..."

Wu Xie stretched out his right fingertips and rubbed them together, his meaning clear: either stay here and fend for yourself, or hand over the benefits in exchange for his life.

Even to outsiders, Wang Baichuan and his gang of madmen were reaping what they sowed.

They betrayed the Iron Chopsticks who could have stood up for them, turning to darkness and ultimately perishing in the grave with the new Iron Chopsticks. Anyone who knew would mock them, saying, "They brought it upon themselves."

"Mr. Chen, you know very well that there are quite a few people eyeing your position. You'd better think it over carefully. I think Mr. Chen can tell the difference between a watermelon and a sesame seed."

Wu Xie didn't know what he would encounter if he went to Motuo, so he took care of all the guys who were trying to cause trouble in advance. Chen Jinshui and Wang Baichuan were the ones who just happened to run into him and were used as a warning to others.

Chen Jinshui felt a lump in his throat and gritted his teeth. "Fine, I admit defeat today because I'm not as skilled as you. I'll give you 30% of the profits from the jade mine in Myanmar."

Wu Xie raised his finger and waved it gently. "No, no, no, that's not enough. I also need the old trading post Chen Pi left in Guangxi. Hand over the ledger to Wu Shan Ju within a week, and order all the descendants of your Chen family to never set foot in Banna again. If you can do that, I'll save you."

Chen Jinshui spat out a mouthful of blood, which flowed down his chin. He trembled all over as if he was about to faint at any moment.

His business focused almost entirely on the trading market in Guangxi; most of the goods he collected from trading markets in other regions were shipped out through this market.

Most importantly, Chen Pi Asi left something very important in the back mountain of the ancestral hall. He tried to go in several times, but still hasn't found it.

But forced by circumstances, he would die if he didn't agree, so he had no choice but to swallow his pride and say, "Fine—I agree!"

"Master Chen is indeed a straightforward man. Deal." Wu Xie smiled slightly, took out a voice recorder from his pocket, the red dot on it was still flashing, indicating that it was in operation.

The managers of the other smaller betting operations, knowing their fate was sealed, also surrendered half of their betting operations as collateral for their lives.

Wu Xie also gave them a week, which meant that they had to handle all the matters to be handed over to the trading company within seven days, and hand over the ledgers and the supply channels to Wu Xie.

"Don't try anything funny. I'll have Panzi send people to keep an eye on you." Wu Xie put away the recorder and waved his hand behind him.

Nie Xiaoba and the others lowered the ropes and hoisted Chen Jinshui and the others up. They then treated their wounds, and those who were more seriously injured were temporarily carried on makeshift stretchers.

After they had all left the stone hall, Black Bear pointed to the sacrificial plate below and whispered, "Quick, before the blood dries, take it down."

Fatty fired a signal flare into the sky, illuminating the entire space. Wu Xie quickly used his camera to photograph the blood-stained pattern below.

“This looks like a bird totem,” Wu Xie said after examining it closely. “It looks a lot like the phoenix described in ancient books.”

Zhang Fuyin said in a low voice, "This altar has always existed here. The surrounding rocks are filled with corpses. When Wang Zanghai built this place, he killed all the craftsmen and stuffed them into the walls."

Hei Xiazi slowly spoke, "Wu Xie, do you still remember the guy who suddenly attacked Zhang Wuxun at the bottom of the meteorite crater in the Queen Mother of the West's underground palace?"

Wu Xie looked at the photos in the camera, then suddenly turned to stare at him intently, "You mean..."

Black Bear curled the corners of his mouth. "That's it. It also shows up when heated. The imitation couldn't be more obvious."

Wu Xie nodded, already having made up his mind. He had no intention of discussing it further and changed the subject, asking, "What score would you give me this time?"

Black Bear chuckled, casually tossed out a "positive infinity," and turned to walk out of the stone hall.

-

After saying goodbye to Zhang Fuyin, Fatty was eager to return home and went straight back to Banna. Wu Xie led his men out of the mountains and contacted Xie Yuchen, then sent Chen Jinshui and the others back to their respective territories.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, they arrested some of the Chen family members in Banna, as well as some people who had been spotted by Pan Zi after minor disturbances occurred at Third Master's place during this period.

These people were either quietly replaced or disappeared in Changsha under a plausible pretext, and were then secretly taken by Xie Yuchen to one of his basements in the capital.

Two weeks later, everything seemed to have settled down.

"Are you sure they've all been caught?" Wu Xie asked Xie Yuchen in the secret cabin.

Xie Yuchen had just taken off his mask and pulled a booklet from his pocket, tossing it to him. "Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let these people live."

Wu Xie carefully flipped through the small roster, becoming increasingly alarmed with each page. Some of the names on it were names he knew all too well.

"The purge when I took over my third uncle's power last time was not thorough enough, and so many rats managed to take advantage of the situation. Fortunately, it's not too late to discover it now."

If you don't stop in time, another octopus will definitely appear.

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(End of this chapter)